Tourism in Florida is down thanks to concerns over the Zika virus. The travel insurance provider Allianz Global Assistance released some stats that said that tourism for the fall and winter has already dropped by 15 percent for this reason.
The peak fall and winter season from November 2016 to April of 2017 is showing a 29.11 decrease in travel bookings compared to last year at the same time. Miami, Tampa, and Palm Beach have all taken a considerable hit.
In August the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a travel warning about heading to South Florida, but this was recently lifted in the Miami-Dade area. Even so, pregnant women are still cautioned to steer clear if possible.
But then this week another travel related case of Zika was linked to the Clay area, and four more new non-travel related cases occurred in Miami-Dade. This brings the total of travel related cases to 693 cases statewide, as well as 109 non-travel-related cases in the state. Of those infected with the Zika virus so far in Miami, 91 of them have been pregnant women. Pregnant women have the highest risk when it comes to the virus since it is suspected to cause severe birth defects.
