=20 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- This article was sent to you by someone who found it on SF Gate. The original article can be found on SFGate.com here: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=3D/chronicle/archive/2003/07= /02/BU282826.DTL ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Wednesday, July 2, 2003 (SF Chronicle) SARS cloud lifting/Airlines cut fares, add flights to tempt travelers to As= ia Benny Evangelista, Benjamin Pimentel, Chronicle Staff Writers For months, the fear of SARS put a damper on business and leisure travel to Asia. Now, with world health officials lifting SARS-related travel advisories = to major destinations in Asia, big airlines are trying to lure visitors back with discount fares and more flights. Meanwhile, Bay Area corporations like Intel, Cisco and Hewlett-Packard have lifted SARS-related restrictions on employee travel to Asia. Still, experts say it may be months before travel bounces back to pre-SA= RS levels. They say it will take that long for travelers to set aside images of people wearing surgical masks to avoid severe acute respiratory syndrome, which has killed more than 800 people worldwide. "It's going to take awhile," said Terry Trippler, an airline industry analyst for Cheapseats.com. "If we get through the winter and we don't have any major problems, then everything will be fine by spring." The World Health Organization on Tuesday said it plans to remove the last two places -- Toronto and Taiwan -- on WHO's list of areas where SARS was believed to be circulating. That was more good news for air carriers like United Airlines, Continent= al Airlines and Cathay Pacific Airways, which have taken steps to beef up their transpacific flight schedules. United Airlines on Monday announced plans to reinstate on Aug. 1 some routes that were cut earlier this year when the SARS epidemic slowed demand. United said it will increase flights between San Francisco International Airport and Hong Kong International Airport to once daily, compared with three flights per week now. United will also begin offering daily flights between San Francisco and Shanghai instead of the current schedule of five flights per week. In addition, United will resume service between Chicago's O'Hare and Hong Kong International and add one flight per week between O'Hare and Beijing International Airport. "I commend United for their approach," analyst Trippler said. "I don't believe the need is there yet, but they're trying to create it with an optimistic approach." United has not yet decided to resume direct flights between San Francisco and Taipei. Felix Chen, deputy director of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office tourism section in San Francisco, said Taiw= an authorities are working with other airlines, hotels and transportation agencies on the island to offer promotional discounts. Taiwan was among the hardest hit by the SARS crisis, he said. In May alone, the number of travelers from the United States to Taiwan plunged about 87 percent to 3,978, while the number of travelers from Taiwan to the United States dropped about 51 percent to 21,999. "We expect that for June it will pick up a lot," Chen said. "The airlines offer very, very good prices." Meanwhile, Cathay Pacific Airways on Tuesday began offering a round-trip fare of $499 to Hong Kong from San Francisco, Los Angeles and New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport. That fare, available until July 31, is for travel from Sept. 1 to Nov. 30. Cathay Pacific expects to resume its full pre-SARS schedule by the end of September, including using a larger capacity Boeing 747-400 between San Francisco and Hong Kong instead of the smaller Airbus 340-600 now in service. The airline, now at 71 percent of normal, has offered promotions such as giving away thousands of tickets to help the Hong Kong Tourism Board rebuild passenger traffic to that city. Airline spokeswoman Mary Jersin-Shammas said bookings began to increase = in mid-June after WHO and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control began lifting travel restrictions and advisories to several destinations in Asia. "Demand is getting better," Jersin-Shammas said. "It still has a long way to go, but it came back quicker than we thought it would. There was a bit of pent-up demand." Some of that demand might be coming from a small but noticeable rise in the number of companies that have lifted prohibitions against employees traveling to SARS-affected regions, said Kevin Mitchell, chairman of the Business Travel Coalition in Philadelphia. Cisco Systems Inc. removed restrictions on travel to Taiwan and all locations within China, spokeswoman Abby Smith said. At the height of the SARS crisis, the San Jose technology firm had required employees to get the approval of a senior executive for any trips to the affected countries. Smith said the company is encouraging employees and executives to pay attention to developments on the WHO Web site. Intel has also followed WHO recommendations on travel to areas affected = by SARS. After the crisis hit, Intel employees planning a business trip to those areas had to get approval from the general manager of their business group as well as the general manager of the destination site. The SARS problem forced the Santa Clara chipmaker to cancel developer forums in Beijing and Taipei in early April. It also had to close one floor of its marketing headquarters in Hong Kong after an Intel employee was infected. The employee has since recovered and returned to work, company spokesman Chuck Mulloy said. Some Asian countries also hope to see the return of tourists and business travelers. "Life has returned to normal, and Singaporeans have been stepping out to eat, shop and enjoy themselves," the country's embassy in Washington said in an e-mail. "It is safe to travel to Singapore. We are confident that this next half year will see many more visitors to the country." Rene de los Santos, tourism attache of the Philippine Consulate in San Francisco, said his government, in cooperation with the country's private sector, is offering tour packages to attract visitors this summer. He said travel to the Philippines declined as a result of SARS and the w= ar in Iraq, but the country expects tourism to pick up in the second half of the year. "SARS is no longer a factor of travel to Asia," he said. "It's over." San Francisco attorney Ed Liu, who has many clients in Asia, said he has seen a dramatic improvement in their willingness to travel to and from that part of the world, especially with the many bargain fares being offered by airlines. "Definitely, right now, there seems to be a lot of appeal given all these attractive air fares now," he said. "It's appealing. I'm trying to find the right occasion." New flight pattern As SARS fears fade, businesses and airlines unveil plans to return to normal: -- United is adding daily flights from San Francisco to Beijing and Shanghai. Cathay Pacific is trying to lure travelers to fly from San Francisco to Hong Kong in July for a discounted round-trip fare of $499. -- Cisco and Intel have eased travel restrictions for their employees to Taiwan and certain spots in China. -- Tourism officials in Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia are starting promotional campaigns that offer heavily discounted merchandise to international travelers. Source: Chronicle research E-mail the writers at bpimentel@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx and bevangelista@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx=20 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright 2003 SF Chronicle