Does the Wuhan epidemic have a great impact on foreign tourism?

The new pneumonia epidemic in Wuhan has deeply affected all industries in the world, especially the tourism service industry. As the main force of outbound tourism in China, all outbound tours with tour groups have been cancelled, and a large number of international flights have been grounded, which has had a great impact on domestic and foreign tourism.

According to statistics, before the outbreak of pneumonia, Ctrip released the number "Forecast Report on Tourism Trend in Spring Festival Holidays", which showed that 7 million people were expected to travel abroad in the Spring Festival of 2008, among which Thailand, Japan, Viet Nam, Italy and other countries were popular destinations for China tourists.

Affected by COVID-19, the loss caused by the sharp drop of tourists from China to Thailand will reach 50 billion baht; Tourismeconomics, a tourism research institute, predicts that the number of tourists from China to the United States will be reduced by 28% and the consumption will be reduced by 5.8 billion US dollars. During the epidemic, the number of Japanese tourists visiting China dropped sharply. The number of Japanese group tourists who canceled their trip to Japan in March may exceed 400,000, less than half of that in previous years.

Under the influence of the epidemic, employees and even animals that were once "spoiled" by a large number of tourists from China are now facing the threat of "falling out of favor".

0 1. Japan: Deer ask tourists for food.

Visitors to Nara Park in Japan should be very happy during this time, because they will never be frustrated by the arrogance of deer in the park again, and may even be chased by herds of deer to beg for their greedy "Xianbei". One of the most important reasons may be the sharp drop of tourists from China.

Luyuan in Nara, Japan, is a "punching place for online celebrities" for China tourists. Go into the park to buy a bag. Deer like it. Take advantage of their leisurely foraging opportunities to contact each other and take selfies. This is the roaming life that many tourists yearn for. However, with the recent sharp drop of tourists in China, deer, once regarded as a little pride by tourists, is also deeply out of favor. Not spoiled by domestic "breeders", but also have to compete with a few tourists for snacks.

"The number of customers in China is declining every day. The sales volume of the' Lu Xian Cup' has also dropped rapidly, less than half of that before the ban on group outbound travel. " In an interview with the media, a staff member selling Xianbei in Nara Park said this. Even the deer in the park are hungry. They look different from each other. Deer are very friendly before eating Xianbei. They will bow their heads and approach people. Now it's probably because I'm too hungry and I'm sprinting to people.

February 1 day is the first weekend since the first case of novel coronavirus was diagnosed in Nara Prefecture. The bustling Nara Park and its surrounding areas are sparsely populated, and the sight of a large number of foreign tourists feeding deer has become a thing of the past.

Local media reported on the 4th that due to the pneumonia epidemic, the number of Japanese tourists to China dropped sharply, resulting in a double-digit year-on-year decline in the sales of duty-free goods in large Japanese department stores during the Spring Festival, and heavy losses in tourism, aviation and other industries. The Japan Tourism Association said on the 3rd that the Japanese government suspended group travel to China from the end of this year 10 to the end of March, and it is estimated that more than 400,000 Japanese group tourists will cancel their travel to China, which is less than half of the number of tourists in previous years. This figure excludes free travellers and Japanese tourists who come to China by cruise, so the Japan Tourism Association thinks that the actual cancellation number will exceed 400,000.

On February 3rd, 2065438+00-2065438+00, NatthakonRuengrote, vice-president of Phuket Professional Tour Guides Association, revealed that the number of tourists in Phuket dropped sharply due to the influence of COVID-19. At present, there are about 7,000 registered tour guides in Phuket, including more than 3,000 unemployed tour guides from China who need financial assistance to pay for their living expenses.

It should be the annual tourist season in Phuket, but due to the sudden spread of novel coronavirus, the number of tourists from China to Phuket has dropped sharply. According to official data, there are currently about 7,000 registered tour guides in Phuket, of which about 3,000 are qualified Chinese tour guides. NatthakonRuengrote added in an interview that even tour guides without special training will be affected.

According to relevant sources of Phuket Tourism Business Association, since China announced on June 24th at 65438 that all tour groups are prohibited from leaving the country and booking hotel air tickets, the number of tourists from China to Thailand has dropped sharply. 65438+1On October 28th, the number of China tourists from Phuket Airport decreased 12% compared with the 27th. 20% of the tourists received by Phuket Airport are from China; If the average daily number of visitors in Phuket Airport is 5,500, the average stay time is 4 days and the per capita expenditure is 7,500 baht, it is estimated that the number of China tourists in Phuket will be reduced by 70%, with a loss of nearly 65.438+0.0395 billion baht.

: While health officials are busy coping with the epidemic spreading around the world, tour operators and travel agencies in new york are preparing for the economic pain, because hotel rooms and seats on tour buses will be empty. "The economic pressure will be great," said ElizabethQin, chairman of the new york branch of Pacific Asia Travel Association, an industry organization, and an agent of a travel agency in Fort Lee, New Jersey.

BruceZhu, manager of a travel agency in Flushing, Queens, new york, has booked a hotel to welcome 200 tourists from China who will arrive in new york in the next two weeks. But now they have to cancel these trips, which has caused great losses. Zhu said that he might have to fire two of the five employees.

Chen Tang, manager of a company providing Chinese tour bus service, said that due to the epidemic, the number of tourists per bus was only half that of last year, with only 10 to 20 tourists a day, compared with 30 to 40 a year ago.

Krans, general manager of Windham Garden Hotel in Newark Airport, said that their losses in the next 90 days may be between 250,000 and 300,000 dollars. So far, he has lost more than $ 65438+ million because of canceling the appointment.

Tourismeconomics, a tourism research institute, predicts that the number of tourists from China to the United States will be reduced by 28% and the consumption will be reduced by 5.8 billion US dollars.

02. Phuket: A large number of tour guides are unemployed.

For France, which receives more than 2 million tourists from China every year, the outbreak of novel coronavirus may reduce the number of the most "rich" customers. At the end of last month, French Tourism Federation President Maas expressed concern about the decrease of tourists in China.

"Although China tourists only account for 2.5% of the total number of tourists, they are important money owners. They spend 4 billion euros (annual data) in France, accounting for 7% of the total consumption of all tourists. " Mas said.

He said that the French tourism industry is in the off-season, and if the epidemic continues, the impact on the economy will be enormous, especially for the hotel and luxury goods industries.

According to the data of the tax refund service provider Planet, 65438+1The Spring Festival from October 25th to February 8th and the next two weeks are very important for businesses. During the Spring Festival in 2008 and 2008, the tax refund for tourists from China accounted for 10% of the French total.

Tourism is often reflected by individual practitioners. So, Phoenix. Com interviewed several tourism practitioners from different countries in the world and learned about the impact of this epidemic on tourism around the world.

203. new york: Meeting the economic pain.

65438128, after seeing off the last tour group from China, Jimmy, a Turkish tour guide from China, was temporarily unemployed and stayed at home, painting with his wife and doing housework. He seldom makes friends on weekdays, and also begins to show off his new wife's new paintings, which is really an unusual day for him who runs with tour groups all the year round.

As Turkey has strict requirements on the reception of each registered tour guide, China tour guides can only receive tour groups from China. After seeing the expanding tourism market in China, Jimmy went to Shanghai to study Chinese for a period of time at his own expense two years ago, and then returned to China to obtain the Turkish Chinese tour guide qualification certificate and joined the Turkish Chinese tour guide association.

Although he has studied Chinese for a short time, Jimmy can now speak fluent Chinese by studying with the group at work. Enthusiastic, humorous, able to communicate smoothly with tourists from China, and handsome, Jimmy really has many fans in China.

"When they received the last tour group from China, they were in a bad mood and worried about whether they could return to China smoothly, so they had no interest in sightseeing at all. Fortunately, they finally returned to China smoothly. " This is Jimmy's initial feeling about the recent pneumonia epidemic.

After seeing off the last China tour group, Jimmy's work had to come to an end. "I'm resting at home now and painting with my wife. In previous years, during the Spring Festival in China, I always took 2-3 groups with at least 60- 100 people. 65438+1From October 28th to February 29th, no team can be recruited. If I don't go on tour for 1~2 months, I can still insist. If I drag on, I can only consider receiving European tour groups. "

In Turkey, registered tour guides who can't speak English can receive tourists from other English-speaking countries under certain conditions.

04. France: The number of rich people has decreased.

For Pho, who runs a hotel in Datuk, Vietnam, these days are very quiet, and he can hardly feel the breath of China Spring Festival. "In the past Spring Festival holidays in China, there were no guests from China. A few years ago, every year at this time, friends from China would come here to celebrate the Spring Festival. Although we don't celebrate this festival very much, domestic friends will hold various celebration activities, and I will also participate. Due to the pneumonia epidemic, old friends from China have not been there recently. "

"Are you all right, my friend? Wuhan! My friend, are you all right? Wuhan! 65438+1On October 28th, Pho sent a message in his WeChat circle of friends, which was his first circle of friends in the middle of the year. Pho is also a post-90 s barista while running a homestay. In addition to working in a local coffee shop, he and his cousin also run two homestays in the urban area, which is a veritable slash youth.

Pho is a real warm man. When you meet a guest who comes to play alone, he will take time out to be a free tour guide, ride his motorcycle and take him to some scenic places to play, which makes people feel more like friends than landlords. For this reason, many Pho tenants are recommended by former tenants, and a large part of them are tourists from China and South Korea.

"I first heard that your epidemic came from a circle of friends, and then some China tourists began to unsubscribe." Pho has been running a family hotel for some years, and is also a veritable literary youth, barista, photographer and homestay operator. These labels are all his favorites. His original intention of opening a family hotel is not to make money, but to make friends all over the world. In order to facilitate contact with friends in China, he used WeChat very early and kept in touch with former residents from time to time.

"There will definitely be fewer guests, but I won't have too much pressure because I use my own house to do things. In addition, I will also develop more tourists from other countries during this time and try to make up for the losses. " Pho began to have a new plan for the epidemic that may last for a while.

05. Turkey: Chinese-speaking tour guides were shut down.

At 6: 30 in the afternoon, Cindy, who runs a bar in Huaren Street, Milan, Italy, came to her bar as usual, unlocked the door and began to wipe the tables and chairs in the bar for fear of leaving a little stain or dust. When she was cleaning, the staff in charge of the kitchen began to get busy, but compared with before, there were many fewer guests coming every night, and the food to be prepared was correspondingly less.

Seeing that it was the busiest time in the evening, Cindy's bar still looked deserted, and there were no other guests except three or two people drinking alone. "After the outbreak, our business was really affected, especially in Italy, where there were a lot fewer guests." She felt that the improper publicity of Italian local media caused the Italian people's incomprehension and even panic about China people. Many Chinese who run supermarkets, restaurants, bars and other businesses in Milan have encountered similar troubles as Cindy.

Many local people have not fully understood the epidemic situation of pneumonia and overreacted, thus reducing the frequency of consumption in restaurants run by China people, or even not entering these places at all. They are worried that the ingredients from China used in these places will carry germs. As the business run by Chinese accounts for a large proportion in the local area, many politicians, including the mayor of Florence, began to come forward, fearing that such panic would hit the catering industry, hoping that people would eliminate unnecessary panic and eat in Chinese restaurants normally.

Although she was in trouble, Cindy didn't relax. "The more this happens, the more you should do daily hygiene and provide consumers with a better consumption environment." In addition to daily routine cleaning, she also increased the number of times to wipe floors, tables and chairs, and took the initiative to introduce the sources of ingredients and drinks she used to consumers to dispel everyone's concerns.

Relevant statistics show that in the first three quarters of this year, the number of outbound tourists in China was nearly 654.38+0.2 billion, and outbound consumption ranked first in the world. Since the spread of pneumonia, the absence of China tourists has been felt most obviously in the Asia-Pacific region, and some parts of Europe and America have also felt great pressure. In the face of the negative impact of the sudden drop of tourists in China, I think all countries will take active measures to minimize this impact, and all express their hope to end the epidemic as soon as possible and get the tourism industry back on track.