Foreign journalists are likely to face the wrath of British diplomats under plants to curb the impact of swine flu to the already fragile industry.

The Foreign Office has been asked to rebut misleading or hysterical reporting amid fears that tourists will cancel plans to visit when many hoped that tourism would help the country during the recession.

The number of new cases of swine flu has decreased across the nation with the estimated number of cases for this week being 110,000, marginally higher than the week before.

As it appears that the spread of the H1N1 virus is stalling, ministers are concerned that foreign media is portraying Britain as a panic-stricken nation paralyzed by the outbreak.

Culture Secretary Ben Bradshaw said that there was no reason that tourists should avoid travelling to the UK and asked the Foreign Office to ensure embassies overseas monitor negative coverage of the UK in relation to swine flu.

He said: “Britain is open for business. This is not like foot-and-mouth and it’s very important that we get those messages across and we rebut any misleading reporting that could damage our fragile tourist industry. We don’t want to see their numbers fall off.”

Latest figures show that fewer people are choosing the UK as a holiday destination, despite hopes of a bumper summer, fuelled by cash-strapped families opting to stay at home and foreign tourists enticed by the low value of the pound against the dollar and euro.

Quotes thanks to The Cornwall Guardian.  For more information visit www.thiscornwall.co.uk