Destinations around the world are taking the offensive to battle travel worries and the coronavirus.

The Bahamas put out a statement on the weekend to say there have been no cases in the island chain, while Bologna, Italy put out a video saying the city is open for business.

"The Bahamas Ministry of Health is working closely with the all pertinent government agencies throughout the destination to execute The Bahamas National Preparedness and Response Plan for COVID-19," officials said in their release. "At this time, there are no reported cases of the coronavirus in The Bahamas."

"The World Health Organization (WHO) does not currently recommend any restriction of travel or trade, and The Bahamas continues to welcome visitors to the destination. The Bahamas is one of the few countries conducting COVID-19 testing and is actively employing several measures used globally to screen visitors and residents and to manage the response to individuals of concern in line with international health best practices. Traveller health questionnaires and a screening protocol are used at ports, hotels and rental properties to identify guests who may require surveillance or treatment."

There are currently only four quarantine cases in The Bahamas.

A destination-wide education campaign is underway in The Bahamas to remind the public of the basic hygiene practices that can be used to prevent the spread of the virus including frequent, proper hand washing, use of hand sanitizers, frequent disinfection of surfaces and avoiding close contact with those exhibiting signs of respiratory illness.

"The WHO (World Health Organization) currently considers the risk to The Bahamas and Caribbean from the coronavirus to be low, but a key element of the IHR plan is to inform the public of relevant updates regularly," Bahamas officials said.

Bologna officials are using the hashtag #BolognaWontStop for their campaign, and said the video they posted is meant to spread a positive message about the city and about the country of Italy.

We strongly believe that it is important to adequately communicate the current situation, the City of Bologna is constantly monitoring the evolution of events but at the moment things here in Bologna are normal and everything is going on as usual, they said. This is the reason why we created the video, following the first one by the City of Milan, to spread the message that Italy, and Bologna, won't stop. We hope that other Italian cities will follow.

I was in Bologna and the Emilia-Romagna region for a week or so several years ago and loved it. The food was spectacular and theres a tremendous amount of history to the area, not to mention lovely wines and beautiful, hilltop villages such as San Leo and Verucchio.

The massive ITB travel conference slated for Berlin this week was cancelled late last week. But officials with the U.S. Travel Association say the annual IPW gathering, slated this year for Las Vegas starting in late May, is full speed ahead at this point.

While IPW is several months away, we're presently on track to host an outstanding event in Las Vegas, Nevada, May 30-June 3. It's "all systems go" and planning for all scenarios is well underway. Registration is strong from both domestic and international attendees, said IPW General Manager Malcolm Smith.

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Bahamas and Bologna Go On the Offensive to Battle Coronavirus Concerns - TravelPulse Canada