TRAVEL agents in Dorset are waiting with ‘trepidation’ to see how the swine flu outbreak will hit business.

Dozens of flights to Mexico were cancelled yesterday as operators took decisive action in the wake of advice to restrict travel to the country to essential trips.

Many operators scrapped flights for at least the next week, with many holidaymakers now reconsidering their travel plans as the flu continues to spread globally.

With the economic downturn already hitting the industry hard in the pocket, the double whammy of cancelled holidays could prove disastrous.

Jack Crawshaw, managing director of Dorchester-based Langley Travel, said: “We live in trepidation. We could lose quite a bit of money if people decide to stop travelling.

“We hope this is just a storm in a teacup. Only in around two weeks time will we know the full impact.”

Sarah Leach, travel adviser with the Dorchester Travel Agency, said they had received many inquiries about the rapidly escalating situation. She said: “Some people seem happy to travel while others want to avoid it.”

The Foreign Office is now advising UK tourists to consider whether they should stay in Mexico. The World Health Organisation yesterday raised the global pandemic threat level to four on their six-point scale, meaning human-to-human transmission could cause community-level outbreaks.

* Has your holiday been affected by the swine flu outbreak? Call the Echo newsdesk on 01305 830999 or email newsdesk@dorsetecho.co.uk