According to industry experts, the ongoing outbreak of coronavirus is hitting the tourism industry, primarily in China itself, as well as in Japan and Thailand.
“I’ve been receiving cancellations constantly…This situation will hit us hard,” said Sho Yamazoe, president of Kamome Tourist Co, in an interview with The Nation, a Thai newspaper. His company canceled about 480 tours for about 20 thousand people in a few days.
The infectious crisis may also affect the final outcome for those working in the tourism industry ahead of the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.
“The hotel and transportation industries that had prepared to receive visitors for the upcoming Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics are getting a smack in the eye in the stage where they would be recouping their investments,” Shunsuke Kobayashi, senior economist at Daiwa Institute of Research Ltd., told The Nation.
In Thailand, popular venue for Lunar New Year celebrations, the potential loss of profits is estimated at $ 1.6 billion. In Bangkok, many pharmacies ran out of surgical masks, and the number of Chinese tourists reduced significantly.
It is noteworthy that these same Asian countries are at the highest risk of the spread of coronavirus - in the first place is Thailand, followed by Japan and Hong Kong. In a list compiled by researchers from the University of Southampton in the UK, the United States is in sixth place, Australia is in 10th place, the UK is in 17th, Russia is in 20th and India is in 23rd.
The forecast is based on the number of passengers who are expected to arrive there from the Chinese cities most affected by the coronavirus. The cities most at risk are Bangkok followed by Hong Kong and Taipei in Taiwan. London, New York and Sydney are among the 20 largest international cities included in this list.
Blogs
