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 globe is taking a heavy hit during one of the biggest travel seasons, the Lunar New Year.
In this March 27, 2017, file photo, tourists from China take pictures at the New England Aquarium in Boston. 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.
On Monday, China extended the week-long holiday by an extra three days to Feb. 2 to help prevent the epidemic from spreading further, as authorities announced that 2,744 people had fallen ill and 80 had died from the new virus first found in the central Chinese city of Wuhan. Shanghai pushed the holiday’s end back to Feb. 9.
That followed a downturn in arrivals from China in early 2019 after several boating accidents raised questions about the safety standards of tour operators. Chinese made about 134 million trips in 2019, according to official figures, up 4.5% from a year earlier but a much slower rate of increase than the nearly 15% growth seen in 2018. Hong Kong, Thailand, Japan, Vietnam and South Korea tend to be favorite destinations.
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