Yeoh Siew Hoon finds herself in a continent gripped by fresh fears and hopes we will not turn into sheep.
The newspapers in Europe are full of fear.
There is, of course, the fear of terrorism. The two rounds of bomb blasts in London (the second fortunately did not claim any lives) and the horrific bombings in Egypt, aimed at two hotels and obviously tourists, have sparked fresh fears of terrorist attacks across the continent.
"This is war," said a friend, who lives in Paris. "We will be next."
In the International Herald Tribune, a column declares, "It is not more 911s we must worry about, but more Madrids and Londons. Harrassed as it is, Al Qaeda has opened up a second front in Europe that will keep Europeans pinned down while the big war grinds on in Iraq."
Another column speculates that Italy and Denmark are the next targets "partly because of their troop presence in Iraq and partly because of threats made after the London blasts".
My guess is, we don't really know where the terrorists will hit next.
If their attacks are linked to troop presence in Iraq, then why hit Egypt which did not support the war on Iraq?
Then there is the fear borne out of growing evidence that, increasingly, the terrorists are home-grown, not imported from some "poor, uncivilised" country. They hold British or French passports and have grown up in local communities. They are the guy next door, perhaps one you may even bring home to mother.
Discussing the subject of terrorism with European friends one weekend – Austrians, Belgians and French – I am reminded of the days post-the Bali bombings of October 2002. How long ago that seemed, yet really less than three years ago, when we in Asia woke up to a morning of carnage and fear in our backyard and wondered who was next?
My guess is – and it's as good as yours – anywhere, anytime.
Related to all this is, of course, the fear of loss of tourism income. London's worried that tourists will stay away. Those who do decide to visit Britain anyway are choosing to avoid the public transportation system.
Egypt too will be worried that the latest attacks, which happened at the height of the European travel season, will hurt their tourism.
Beyond terrorism, there is also the fear of a flu pandemic with one columnist saying that "the world is ill prepared for the millions of deaths that could occur if a lethal strain of avian flu virus in Southeast Asia mutates into a strain that is easily transmitted from person to person".
Then there's the fear of commercial colonisation with the news this week that a French icon, Taittinger, has been sold to the Starwood Capital Group. Yes, the name behind the darling of French dinner tables for generations has landed in the hands of an American corporate giant.
The deal also means Louvre Hotels, part of the Taittinger Group, will become part of Starwood Hotels & Resorts. Combined with its recent acquisition, jointly with Lehman Brothers, of Le Meridien, Starwood now becomes a very serious hospitality player in Europe, going from 13
th to second place, behind Accor.
This development is, of course, as historic as the sale of the Singapore icon, Raffles Hotel, to Colony Capital with the recent surrender of Raffles International to the American investment company.
How the wheel has turned – a British icon which became the pride of Singapore in the hands of a new colony…
As I am reading and mulling over this fear factor that's prevailing not only in Europe but the world, I received a mail from a friend, titled, "450 Sheep Jump to Their Deaths in Turkey".
It's a story about how first one sheep jumped to its death, and then 1,500 others followed, each leaping off the same cliff.
No one knows why they did it but "in the end, 450 dead animals lay on top of one another in a billowy white pile," the Aksam newspaper said.
In George Orwell's "Animal Farm", which I happen to be re-reading during my holiday, the sheep are portrayed as the stupid ones, the followers.
I sincerely hope that fear will not make sheep out of all of us.
The SHY Report
A regular column on news, trends and issues in the hospitality industry by one of Asia's most respected travel editors and commentators, Yeoh Siew Hoon.
Siew Hoon, who has covered the tourism industry in Asia/Pacific for the past 20 years, runs SHY Ventures Pte Ltd. Her company's mission is "Content, Communication, Connection". She is a writer, speaker, facilitator, trainer and events producer. She is also an author, having published "Around Asia In 1 Hr: Tales of Condoms, Chillies & Curries". Her motto is ‘free to do, and be'. Contacts: Tel: 65-63424934, Mobile: 65-96801460Check out Siew Hoon's new website, www.shy-connection.com, which features a newly-launched e-zine with a difference. 
