10/15/10 New York City: NYC BedBug Outbreak Has Tourists Crawling Away
As Radio City’s Rockettes start practicing for the Christmas show and retailers plan their holiday windows, some tourists are canceling their annual trips because of bedbugs.
New York City’s (NYC) bedbugs have climbed out of bed and marched into landmarks like the Empire State Building, Bloomingdale’s and Lincoln Center, causing fresh anxiety among tourists who are canceling Big Apple vacations planned for the height of the holiday season.
Some travelers who had arranged trips to New York say they are creeped out about staying in hotels and visiting attractions as new reports of bedbugs seem to pop up every few days. And officials in Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s administration are concerned about the effect on the city’s image and $30 billion tourism industry.
The discoveries of pests at high-profile places are often not full-blown infestations. Bloomingdale’s reported finding exactly one bug in the famous department store, the Empire State Building had them in the basement and Lincoln Center’s were in a dressing room.
But those reports, along with bedbug discoveries in movie theaters, hotels and clothing chain stores, are causing skittish travelers to call off trips planned months ago.
Industry professionals—who have privately told city officials that they are nervous about bedbugs hurting New York’s reputation—say publicly that they are not aware of any bedbug-related cancellations. But several would-be tourists tracked down by The Associated Press say they are aborting their trips here because they fear the bloodsucking pests.
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October 27th, 2010 at 3:43 pm
Leave it to the press to start another panic as they do with everything else.