NEW DELHI: With the country barely beginning to look forward to a profitable "winter" tourist season -- starting every year in October and extending up to April -- travel and tour operators claim that they have already started feeling the heat instead as "dengue panic" is leading to a lot of cancellations as foreign tourists become aware of the situation in Delhi.

"With a dengue scare in North India and chikungunya in South India, tourists -- especially those coming from Europe - are doing a re-think about their visits. While most tourists come prepared for malaria as warned in the tourist guidebooks, few are aware of dengue and chikungunya. This is our peak season and the twin scare could hit the industry if not controlled. We are getting queries on the outbreak of the disease and tourists who are in Delhi want to know how to protect themselves. There have been around 10 per cent cancellations this week alone but we are hoping the trend would slow down soon," said Aftab Baktoo of Indian Tribal Tours.

Hotels in the city too are making an effort to ensure that their staff and visitors remain unaffected by the disease. Most hotels have put in place an intensive hygiene programme including dengue awareness capsules in their routine training sessions besides putting up information boards.

"We are taking all precautionary measures to ensure that everything is safe and sound. Round-the-clock checking is being done to ensure that there is no mosquito breeding in any part of the hotel premises," said Le Meridien director of public relations, Akhil Mathur.

Having included dengue awareness as part of their routine training sessions, the ITC-owned Maurya Sheraton Hotel said it was ensuring that the staff was familiar with the do's and don'ts to protect against dengue not only when at work in the hotel but also at home.

Awareness drive

"To ensure that there is no panic and work is carried out smoothly we have equipped our staff with adequate awareness. Also we have a strict environment health safety unit which ensures that highest standard of hygiene are maintained," said hotel spokesperson Prathima Vasan.

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