It's a bummer to get sick on a vacation. Anyone who has been holed up in a hotel with the chills or worse instead of out enjoying the trip that you paid for can vouch for that. Illness isn't great for tourism either. Mexico tourism has hit the skids because of H1N1 virus, aka, swine flu. Folks in the Mexico tourism industry have begun to cook up ideas to entice tourists to head south. Here's one.

In an effort to make amends, and woo tourists into thinking that a little swine flu is worth the risk, three hotel chains: Real Resorts, Dreams and Secrets are offering a screaming deal to anyone who has swine flu like symptoms within eight days after they get home from their Caribbean coast vacation. According to this Daily Mail article, if you arrive home and get sick, you get three years of free vacation fun in Mexico. The eight day limit, I suppose, is to keep people from blaming any old ailment they acquire days, weeks or months later on their beach holiday.

There's a couple of hitches with this plan. The U.S. is still recommending that people not travel to Mexico unless they really have to and several companies have canceled trips. But, still, it's a creative odd reverse of what is usually the case of what people want from a vacation.

Most people head to Mexico, or anywhere else for that matter, hoping to NOT get sick. In this case, getting sick is like hitting the lottery. I wonder how many people will be disappointed on the ninth day after they have returned home and wake up without one ache and pain--not even a twinge. Not only do you NOT win three years of free vacation, but you have to go to work. Most people will end up heading to work. Probably all of them. Mexico's Health Minister has reported that out of the 2,000 registered swine flu cases, only two have been from Cancun.

Filed under: Business, Mexico, Hotels and Accommodations, Budget Travel, News, Travel Health, Caribbean