Tourists welcome in Samoa despite measles outreak
Samoa’s tourism authority says the Pacific island nation is still open for business despite one of its worst measles outbreaks.
A state of emergency has been declared with 16 measles related deaths reported and about 1,200 possible cases.
"No hotels are shutting down because of this epidemic. The best that we can do now is to keep giving out advice on what to prepare for, especially to our visitors to Samoa before they travel," the tourism authority said.
Tourism authority representatives in New Zealand, Australia, the UK, Asia and North America are ensuring all visitors are well informed about the current status.
"Business is still on. All the hotels are open. We’re just giving out precautions and they’re also taking precautionary measures to ensure the health and safety of Samoans as well as our visitors."
Travellers without measles vaccinations are advised not to travel, while some events have been cancelled to avoid large crowds congregating together, such as the Tatau Festival parade.
Medical assistance teams from Australia and New Zealand are helping authorities to organise emergency vaccination programmes.
Meanwhile, a measles alert was issued in Melbourne after a traveller who contracted measles arrived from Samoa on an Air New Zealand flight via Auckland.
He was thought to be infectious when he arrived back in Australia a week ago.
Several measles cases were are also confirmed in Fiji and Tonga.
TravelMole Editorial Team
Editor for TravelMole North America and Asia pacific regions. Ray is a highly experienced (15+ years) skilled journalist and editor predominantly in travel, hospitality and lifestyle working with a huge number of major market-leading brands. He has also cover in-depth news, interviews and features in general business, finance, tech and geopolitical issues for a select few major news outlets and publishers.
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