Local airlines should instead hope for a summer stampede of holiday-hungry tourists.
"The airlines are hopeful for pent-up demand, but this may take some time to emerge, although warmer weather could encourage travelers to book for that annual resort holiday," Negline said.
Travel advisories from the World Health Organization (WHO) are still hurting the local travel industry.
"It is a tough reality but the WHO travel bans are intended to discourage travel to/from SARS infected areas simply to prevent the spread of the disease both regionally and globally," Negline said.
"Initially the WHO said it had not advised against travel to SARS-affected areas," Clarke said. "I think they were quite shocked by the effect on the world economy of their later advice on travel."
The extent of the economic impact as a result of WHO travel advisories may lead to a review of the advisory policy.
"After this, I believe there has to be soul-searching between the WHO and industry groups to see how to do this better next time," Clarke said.
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