The toll on travel and hospitality could be worse than during the SARS epidemic when Chinese travelers were a smaller group than they are today.
Airlines and major hotel chains are waiving cancellation fees, but recouping all the costs associated with trips canceled due to coronavirus fears is far from guaranteed.
For travel brands, offering thoughtful communications and assistance to both travelers and corporate partners at the time will be much appreciated.
At a time when the country is mobilizing medical teams nation-wide to fight the virus in Wuhan, China’s travel industry is also taking measures to participate in the fight.
OYO is firing thousands of staff across China and India; Six Flags is struggling with its planned parks in China and might scrap plans to complete them.
Sino-US trade frictions did not affect the variation of China’s tourist arrivals from the US, which grew 7.4% in 2018, 4.6 percentage points higher than that in 2017.
Visitor arrivals to China increased by 4.7% to 108.76 million and outbound trips from China rose 8.5% to 119.9 million.
Early entry was but the first step of Booking.com’s game plan on building its presence in China, and partnering with major local players is deemed essential.
