In 2009, the travel world was rocked by swine flu and ‘staycations’, but what about 2010? In an extract from Lonely Planet Magazine’s January 2010 edition, Tim Moore takes a look at possible trends.
The first few months of 2010 see a pandemic of pandemics: holidaymakers return from Africa with gnu flu, from Australia with roo flu, and the Black Forest with yew flu. Each sparks off tabloid hysteria and a bout of panicked holiday cancellations, yet the predicted morgue-clogging death toll stubbornly fails to materialise.
Flu fatigue quickly sets in, meaning that no-one listens when a team of researchers isolates a fast-spreading strain of ‘flea flu’. By the time people realise they’re talking about bubonic plague, it’s far too late.