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Bed bugs take a bite out of Asia tourism recovery
Bed bug fears have taken hold across Asia with a growing anxiety over infestations.
There have been no major cases of bedbug infestation but it is still causing alarm with travellers.
Fears over the insects have been growing in South Korea, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Taiwan.
It comes as much of Asia is still in recovery mode after the pandemic.
Cases of bed bugs in France and in London received a lot of media attention in Asia.
Bed bug cases started being reported in South Korea hotels a few weeks ago and the anxiety has spread both for travelers and hotels.
Singapore pest control firms said demand for their services have jumped by up to 50% in the past month.
“Bedbugs have always been around,” said Darian Ee, director of a Singapore pest control company.
He puts the demand spike down to overblown media coverage.
Stories of suspected bed bug infestations at Seoul and Hong Kong airports garnered a lot of media attention for days.
Recently, Hong Kong started handing out leaflets to outbound passengers warning them about ‘‘the chance of transmission of bedbugs from overseas to the local community.’
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Editor for TravelMole North America and Asia pacific regions. Ray is a highly experienced (15+ years) skilled journalist and editor predominantly in travel, hospitality and lifestyle working with a huge number of major market-leading brands. He has also cover in-depth news, interviews and features in general business, finance, tech and geopolitical issues for a select few major news outlets and publishers.
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