Zika Threatens Florida’s $67 Billion Tourism Industry

By Douglas A. McIntyre Updated Jan 13, 4:54AM EST · Published Aug 5, 9:40AM EDT

Follow 24/7 Wall St. on Google

This post may contain links from our sponsors and affiliates, and Flywheel Publishing may receive compensation for actions taken through them.

Zika Threatens Florida’s $67 Billion Tourism Industry — © Thinkstock

A week ago, 24/7 Wall St. reported that the spread of Zika would undermine some of Florida’s $67 billion a year tourism business, which may well affect the state’s employment and gross domestic product.

New data show that the risk has increased. In Miami, spraying for Zika is in full swing. However, infection rates continue to rise, and the virus has begun to spread among other states.

The 24/7 analysis:

On Monday, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued its first-ever travel warning for a destination inside the United States. The warning is related to several Zika infections in a north Miami neighborhood and could pose a threat to Florida’s $67 billion tourism industry.

Florida is the top travel destination in the world, according to StateofFlorida.com, a website that is not affiliated with state government. If the virus should spread beyond its currently known location, it could threaten some of the state’s largest tourist attractions, like Disney World and Universal Orlando, along with such beachfront cities along the east coast as Palm Beach and Port St. Lucie. …

[nativounit]

CDC Director Tom Frieden said:

With the new information that there are active mosquitoes still in the area and additional Zika infections, we conclude that pregnant women should avoid this area – and make every effort to prevent mosquito bites if they live or work there. We apply the same criteria within and outside of the United States, and are working closely with the State of Florida and Miami health departments to provide preventive services, including mosquito control.

Florida Governor Rick Scott requested that the CDC send an emergency response team to help the state’s health department respond to the threat.

The potential impact on the state’s $67 billion tourism industry could be significant. Some portion of travelers will avoid the state altogether, while the state and federal governments have a thin line to walk: making the public aware of the dangers of the virus without scaring it away.

The Zika virus is particularly dangerous to pregnant women. The CDC travel guidance recommends that pregnant women not travel to the identified area and that they and their partners living in the area should follow steps to prevent mosquito bites and sexual transmission of the infection. See the full list of CDC recommendations. The virus causes microcephaly, a birth defect that causes a baby’s head to be smaller than other babies of the same sex and age.

[wallst_email_signup]

About the Author Douglas A. McIntyre →

Douglas A. McIntyre is the co-founder, chief executive officer and editor in chief of 24/7 Wall St. and 24/7 Tempo. He has held these jobs since 2006.

McIntyre has written thousands of articles for 24/7 Wall St. He is an expert on corporate finance, the automotive industry, media companies and international finance. He has edited articles on national demographics, sports, personal income and travel.

His work has been quoted or mentioned in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, NBC News, Time, The New Yorker, HuffPost USA Today, Business Insider, Yahoo, AOL, MarketWatch, The Atlantic, Bloomberg, New York Post, Chicago Tribune, Forbes, The Guardian and many other major publications. McIntyre has been a guest on CNBC, the BBC and television and radio stations across the country.

A magna cum laude graduate of Harvard College, McIntyre also was president of The Harvard Advocate. Founded in 1866, the Advocate is the oldest college publication in the United States.

TheStreet.com, Comps.com and Edgar Online are some of the public companies for which McIntyre served on the board of directors. He was a Vicinity Corporation board member when the company was sold to Microsoft in 2002. He served on the audit committees of some of these companies.

McIntyre has been the CEO of FutureSource, a provider of trading terminals and news to commodities and futures traders. He was president of Switchboard, the online phone directory company. He served as chairman and CEO of On2 Technologies, the video compression company that provided video compression software for Adobe’s Flash. Google bought On2 in 2009.