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Bed Bugs Bite into Tourism Dollar |
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Written by Y. Sulaiman (eTN MALAYSIA)
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Thursday, 09 February 2006 |
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Bed bugs causing Australian Tourism to
lose millions
 SYDNEY, Australia (eTurboNews): The Australian tourism
industry is losing an estimated A$ 100 million a year due to bed bugs outbreaks
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Media reports since 2004 to date indicate there is little hard data on
how to recognize, quantify and eradicate the extent of the problem in
Australia. The Australian tourism industry lost millions in income from
accommodation revenue.
The Queensland Tourism Industry Council is
scheduled to hold a bed bug summit to discuss the problem.
"
Accommodation operators in the tropical northern state are losing money by
closing rooms to treat bed bug outbreaks," said Dean Cooper, chairman of
Backpacking Queensland.
" It can be a minimum of two or three days that
you'll have a room out of action, a couple of hundred of dollars for that
particular room, and then you have possible re-infestation problems down the
track."
Gary Hughes, a tourist boat skipper first discovered the problem
when his boat was riddled with bed bugs. Together with several other interested
parties he infestation the first 'Bed Bug Forum' to address the epidemics." I
began making a lot of noise and discovered a lot of other people are also making
noise."
The Institute for Clinical Pathology & Medical Research at
Sydney's Westmead Hospital has reported pest controllers confirming more than
1,000 percent rise in bed bug outbreaks.
" It is part of the epidemic of
bed bugs as a result of changing pest control measures and a rise in travelers
visiting exotic locations," said Stephen Doggett, the institute's medial
entomologist." Pest control in the past usually involved insect sprays, which
also killed bed bugs, but new environmentally-friendly practices have no effect
on bed bugs."
In efforts to'debug' Australia, a recent forum on the problem
came out with three major proposals: recognition of the problem, its financial
implications, and research into methods of management and control.
" In
the beginning people said if we made the problem public it would ruin the
tourism industry. The government made us talk about it, and it hasn't destroyed
our tourism industry."
Currently, there is no pesticide in the market
which can treat bed bugs. Many of the low-toxic chemicals used in pest control
are not registered for bed bug control.
Despite of the problem's impact on
the tourism industry, there is still no state or federal funding programs in
place.
To help the industry recognize and quantify the extent of the
problem, a confidential survey has been developed by Hughes and Doggertt,
together with the Queensland tourism operators.
"Many owners and staff of
hostels do not know how to recognize if bed bugs are around, but if you can
detect it at an early stage you have a very good chance of eradicating them,"
added Hughes.
Dr Dogget said bed bugs are not like cockroach
infestations." You can't just spray a bit of insect spray. It needs to be
treated by professional pest controllers.
"Scientific research is vital to
help contain the pest in the long term," added Dr Doggett.
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Last Updated ( Thursday, 09 February 2006 )
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Saturday, 06 September 2008
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