Most public venues in Mexico City are closed due to the swine flu outbreak there. Correspondent Jennifer Schmidt reports on some foreign tourists in Mexico City pondering their next move.
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LISA MULLINS: Mexico's tourism industry is taking a beating over the swine flu outbreak. People are cancelling their reservations as governments around the globe are telling their citizens to forgo unnecessary trips to Mexico. And many tourists who are already in the country can't wait to leave. Here's more from Jennifer Schmidt in Mexico City.
JENNIFER SCHMIDT: One of the most popular tourist spots in Mexico City is the Frida Kahlo house and museum. On most days, tourists line up outside Kahlo's famous blue house, waiting to get in. Today, the doors are shuttered. A bright yellow sign announces the museum is closed following the recommendation of the health secretary. In fact, every museum, movie theater, concert hall, nightclub, archeological site, playground, swimming pool, and restaurant in Mexico City is now closed, by order of the government. For visitors, that means there is almost nothing to do. Monica Nyederkrome arrived here early last week from Germany.
MONICA NYEDERKROME: I came to Mexico because I wanted to visit my boyfriend, he's working in Mexico City at the German television station and we planned to go together around in Mexico and make a journey but now all plans are over.
SCHMIDT: And after a week in Mexico City, Nyederkrome's enthusiasm for the trip is gone.
NYEDERKROME: I have been... I've been afraid.
SCHMIDT: Nyderkrome's been staying at Chalet del Carmen, a guest house that caters to foreigners. Her boyfriend has been working non-stop since news of the swine flu epidemic broke. And she's been sitting alone in their room. Two days ago, she decided to go home early.
NYEDERKROME: I couldn't use my original ticket I had to buy a new one. And this journey is a very expensive journey for me but hopefully I come healthy back to my home.
SCHMIDT: Another resident at the guest house is Luca Sabinani, an Italian trainer with the top professional soccer club AC Milan. He runs a soccer school in Mexico City to develop talent for the team. But, like all schools in the country, his is closed. Sabinani says he's been sitting around and worrying that swine flu fears will prevent his young players from traveling to Italy this summer for a few big matches.
LUCA SABINANI: The kids are excited about going to Italy, they have been waiting for this opportunity, they have been trained for a year, and they'd like to play in Italy for a week.
SCHMIDT: But the worries of foreigners seem mild compared to the fears of those who live here. Margarita Ehrensperger own the guest house. She says almost all of her incoming visitors have cancelled.
MARGARITA EHRENSPERGER: This means that there is no income. And habitually in Mexico we live everybody on just what is coming in today we use today.
SCHMIDT: When asked how long she could manage without guests, Ehrensperger thought maybe a month.
EHRENSPERGER: Because all of the people who work for us, we have to pay them even if we don't have guests.
SCHMIDT: No guests, no tourists, a crippled economy. Fear for the future is beginning to take hold in this city. People wonder aloud, how long can this go on, and once the swine flu epidemic is over, when will the world be ready to shed its fear and venture back into Mexico? For The World, I'm Jennifer Schmidt in Mexico City.
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