TTC Special: Coronavirus scares the world of tourism

Photo: maridav/123rf

By Frank Martin

TTC Service. – The worldwide tourism industry, so linked to finance, is reacting in various ways beneath the shadow of fears that the coronavirus throws at potential travelers around the world.

The case already sounds the alarms of the so-called universal leisure industry in romantic Venice.

The beautiful Italian city that has been hit in recent years by the excess of tourists, large cruises and floods, now struggles against a bad unknown: cancellations in hotels and accommodation.

According to the Italian agency ANSA, hotels in the city of channels and gondolas are half empty and threaten to be abandoned as soon as the threat of epidemic grows.

“In the Carnival weeks, the hotel occupancy rate reaches 100%. Now we have a 30% drop,” said Claudio Scarpa, president of hoteliers in Venice.

The city that is generally happy every year for this time thanks to the joy of the carnivals and the income they contribute, is only attentive to the news and what they say about the dangerous virus that emerged in China.

According to Scarpa, times are getting worse due to the threats of nature, such as the one that spread over its ancient and valuable buildings and squares when rains, high tides and floods occur not long time ago.

However, the manager has mentioned another unnatural phenomenon. It is what he calls negative publicity, especially cause by the foreign press, who wrote terribly every day about the floods.

However, the coronavirus is more discouraging.

The speculations outside China are so intense that people don’t know what to think, although in case of doubt they stay at home.

Scala is pessimistic. He told reporters that the virus is likely to deepen a crisis that is ongoing and not just for Venice and all of Italy.

He said he had read that the alarm in the United States, a major tourist issuer, is so great that the general thought is that “we will stay at home.”

The Chinese, of whom the world affirms that they are doing things well to combat the vius and especially discovering its potential, are also doing something for tourism.

In Chongqing, China, many museums offer digital exhibits amid the national fight against the new coronavirus.

The Chongqing Museum of the Three Gorges of China (CCTGM) and the Chongqing Museum of Natural History are among those who have opened exhibitions online.

Visitors called to stay in their homes can find digital audio guides in more than 30 exhibits and videos in a dozens of them through the official WeChat account of the CCTGM.

Sitting in their rooms and bedrooms relatively far from the coronavirus, they can take instructive and interesting virtual tours.

A total of 104 museums in the city have been closed after the virus outbreak began.

In addition, in Bangkok, Thailand, the virus not only affects the number of tourists.

The central bank of Thailand reduced its preferential interest rate to its historical low to shore up the economy against a series of threats.

Among those threats is the outbreak of the new virus that has devastated the Thai tourism sector, according to specialists.

These experts say that Thailand is one of several Asian countries most affected by the decline in Chinese tourists and other adverse effects after the outbreak that affects 20 countries at the time of writing this article.

The Central Bank of Thailand reduced its rate from 1.25% to 1%, a fall never seen, stating that it was necessary to help consumers and businesses obtain and pay credits, amid an increase in the debt of people.

Another natural attack, drought in the region and the commercial war between China and the United States, not so natural, have increased uncertainty in the Thai market.

Many other markets, including Singapore, the Philippines and Indonesia, have already announced the willingness to take measures not only medical but also economic and financial one.

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