1918: Tourism Ban During the Flu Pandemic

In early summer 1918, people believed that the spectre of the “Spanish Flu” had already passed, that the epidemic had largely gone away and that it had been fairly benign. But then a new form of the virus returned unexpectedly. And not—as was usually the case—later on in winter, but in late summer of that year. The illness broke out again with tremendous force in three places: in the ports of Freetown in Sierra Leone, Boston in the USA, and Brest in France. Within a very short space of time, this second wave of Spanish Flu had spread across large parts of Europe.

In Austria the medical establishment and the authorities severely underestimated the dangers. They believed that in general, the virus was benign and harmless. It would disappear as quickly as it had come, without any worrying consequences. On 18 June 1918, 47 cases were recorded in Tyrol, immediately followed by several more in Vienna (especially among tram workers),and at the beginning of July the first cases were appearing in Salzburg. The result was that on 22 June, the district authorities in Innsbruck ordered a “ban on Sommerfrische”—the practice of people from the cities going on holiday to places like Tyrol because they offered “summer freshness”. Taking in tourists from outside Tyrol was banned for the summer of 1918. The Tyrolean Tourist Board did everything it could to get the ban lifted—but without success. Many Viennese families who had already booked their summer accommodation in the region around Innsbruck were not able to spend their summer holidays in Tyrol.

Reference:

Franz Schausberger: Ähnlich und doch ganz anders. Spanische Grippe vor 100 Jahren und Corona heute. Historisch-politische Kurzstudien Band 2. pm Verlag. Salzburg 2020.