Catastrophes like floods, earthquakes, wildfires, volcanoes, avalanches, drought and diseases can
have a serious effect on inbound and domestic tourism and thus on local tourism industries. The outbreak
of foot and mouth disease epidemic in England earlier this year (2001), for instance, severely affected
Great Britain's inbound tourism market. A BHA/Barclays Hospitality Business Trends Survey found that
75% of hotels in England, 81% in Scotland and 85% in Wales continued to be affected by the foot and
mouth outbreak, and over 60% forecast a decline in business in the June-September 2001 period
(www.unepie.org/tourism).