By Satyaki Dutta
Tourism in China suffered a major hit in the first quarter of 2020, with the rapid escalation of the Coronavirus outbreak. The celebrations of the Chinese New Year are put on hold. All the major tourist attractions are closed as the authority issued a preventive lockdown.
January 25 marked the beginning of the most important Chinese holiday, the first day of the year of the Metal Rat. It was supposed to bring millions of tourists to China, to partake in the festivities. Then, the new strain of coronavirus emerged in the Wuhan city of China and the death toll has reached 213 already. The cities are under effective quarantine now, and all flights are grounded which have stranded more than 30 million inhabitants in the Hubei province.
The adverse effect of the Coronavirus outbreak directly affects not only China but also the tourism industry of Asia. Chinese tourism groups are banned in both domestic and abroad, to control the spread of the virus.
The short-term effect on tourism –
As the health monitoring, lockdown and panicking reach the peak and domestic trips taken the heaviest hit for now, the Chinese people are avoiding travelling by train, bus or flight. The Chinese government have extended the New Year holiday for a week. It will lead to a migration from city to villages, as people will try to get back to their families and stay till the end of the Spring Festival Golden Week.
Outbound trips will be affected to some extent. Asakusa, a tourist destination near the Sensoji temple in Japan are visited by the Chinese people, but there are very few tourists this year. At the immigration counters, people coming from China will be checked more carefully and they may be quarantined too. As winter is the off-season in Europe, the effect of loss of Chinese tourists will be minimum there.
The long-term effect on tourism –
If the Chinese government can successfully quarantine the virus outbreak, then it is possible to recover from the negative effects at shorter period. There is a major loss of the primary tourism season, but the industry has to accept it and move forward. Unless there is a epidemic, the international tourists will start to pour in soon too.
With the human resources, the transportation and hospitality industry can bounce back easily. It might result in the loss of up to one percent GDP growth of China in 2020. The neighbouring oriental countries like Japan, South Korea have a higher chance of tourist influx for the next couple of seasons.
If the situation is taken under control soon, the outbound overseas travellers’ traffic will not be reduced much. Along with the leisure trips, the business, education, health or religious tourism may resume. France, Britain, Switzerland are among the most visited spots by Chinese nationals. If the situation persists, the economic impact will be significant.
Air India plane leaves for Beijing to evacuate Indians:
Air India left New Delhi on Jan 31 to bring back the Indian nationals stuck in China. The Indian Government reached out to the 600 Indians living in China’s Hubei province. The Indian embassy in Beijing got in touch with Chinese authorities for necessary permission for two flights.
WHO: China death toll rises to 213
After an initial downplaying, WHO declared the Coronavirus outbreak as a global emergency on Jan 30, 2020 The declaration came as the death toll rose to 213 with 9,692 confirmed cases of infection