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Major hotel companies, in response to the swine-flu crisis, are waiving cancellation fees for guests who had planned to stay at their hotels in Mexico.

Marriott International Inc. (MAR), Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc. (HOT), InterContinental Hotels Group PLC (IHG) and Global Hyatt Corp. all said they will waive cancellation fees for arrivals in Mexico.

Carolyn Hergert, an InterContinental Hotels spokeswoman, said the company will waive fees for guests in the U.S and Canada "on a case-by-case basis" and noted the company has seen a rise in cancellations at its Mexico properties.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a travel advisory Monday recommending that Americans avoid all non-essential travel to Mexico, where the outbreak was first seen. The new strain of flu is suspected in 149 deaths so far in Mexico in a major influenza outbreak that has taken on international dimensions, with the World Health Organization warning of the possibility of a global pandemic.

Meanwhile, the number of human cases of swine flu in the U.S. has risen to 40, but with no fatalities so far.

"At this time, we have seen no material cancellations as we continue to closely monitor the travel situation," Starwood said in a statement.

Marriott said it has been meeting with local and national agencies to discuss the pandemic flu issue.

"As part of our efforts, we have continued to review our procedures, including education for our associates and procuring extra supplies such as hand-sanitizing solutions and masks," said Marriott spokesman John Wolf said in an email.

The mounting health crisis couldn't have come at a worst time for the recession-battered lodging industry, which is grappling with steep declines in consumer spending. The swine-flu concerns fueled a selloff in hotel stocks Monday as Marriott International fell 5% to $21.17 and Starwood dropped 10.9% to $18.55.

"Certainly it's bad timing...(for) an industry that's already getting hurt," said Smedes Rose, an analyst at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods.

Rose said it's too early to gauge how severely swine flu will affect the hotel industry given uncertainty about how widespread the virus will reach. He noted that the SARS epidemic in 2003 had a big impact on RevPar, or revenue per available room - the key performance measurement in the hotel industry.

-By A.D. Pruitt, Dow Jones Newswires; 201-938-2269; angela.pruitt@dowjones.com

( Jennifer Corbett-Dooren contributed to this report)