The German E-Coli infections may cause the nation to lose a lot in precious dollars too. The widely reported E-Coli contamination scare has succeeded in keeping the Americans away, with most of them canceling their travel plans in a hurry.

Tourist Woes

Charlotte Pusey a 72 year old US citizen planned to visit Hamburg and stay there for some time before going on to Amsterdam and Prague. But the lady from Virginia has now canceled her plans thanks to the outbreak of E-Coli contamination.  She sounded particularly peeved about it as she recalls the cancellation of travel plans a first in her long list of travel history. She lamented the fact that she had visited many Third World countries despite health risks before but the German adventure seemed to be too fraught with danger to consider it a mere risk.

Richard Golden, a medico by profession declined to go to Munich in the wake of the E-Coli infection running rife there. Delta Airlines were thoughtful enough to waive the cancellation charges, a facility not offered by their tour operators, though. Understandably, senior citizens and parents of kids were terrified at the prospect of flying into the eye of the storm loosely translated as the E-Coli contaminated areas of Germany.

Effects on Tourism Industry

The German tourism industry might be hit hard by the E-Coli infection stories doing the rounds. The fact about the source of contamination remaining unidentified has added to the scare as well. The tourist board is not shoving the facts under the carpet yet. On the contrary, it has displayed a prominent link of the national disease center in its website and asked the visitors not to consume tomatoes, lettuces and cucumbers while on a holiday in Germany.

Germany had been one of the most popular holiday spots with Americans last year with more than 2 million individuals enjoying the hospitality at the bank of the River Rhine. However, all that is destined to change now, a change that cannot be for the better certainly.

After all it is not wise to take a chance with kidney failure because you could not resist the temptation to eat a German bean sprout and cucumber salad!

Image Credit- kabobfest.com