With tens of millions of Chinese ordered to stay put and many others opting to avoid travel as the new coronavirus spreads, tourism around the global is taking a heavy hit during one of the biggest travel seasons, the Lunar New Year.
In Thailand, a favourite tropical destination for Lunar New Year travel, officials estimate potential lost revenue at 50 billion baht . In Asia and much farther away, hotels, airlines, cruise operators and others who depend on big spending Chinese tourists are ruing their absence.
The Tourism Council of Thailand estimated revenues for the holidays would be at least 50 billion baht lower than usual, based on an estimate of Chinese tourists usually spending about 50,000 baht each. Anti-government protests in Hong Kong have left many from the Chinese mainland wary of visiting that popular destination and more likely to travel farther afield. The same goes for the self-governed island of Taiwan, where heavy voter turnout in elections earlier this month favoured candidates who do not favour uniting with Beijing as China's leaders insist must happen eventually.
The office has forecast a further decline of 5% in 2019. It was predicting a return to slow but steady growth in 2020 and beyond, and it isn't clear how the outbreak and latest travel restrictions might change that. China ranks fifth overall in the number of tourists it sends to the U.S., behind Canada, Mexico, the U.K. and Japan.
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