Southeast Asia feels the burn as virus keeps Chinese tourists at home

Elephant parks unvisited, curios at markets unsold as tuk-tuks sit idle: Southeast Asia is facing billions of dollars in losses from a collapse in Chinese tourism since the outbreak of a deadly new coronavirus.

From Luang Prabang in northern Laos to Pattaya in Thailand, Hoi An in Vietnam and the Cambodian casino town of Sihanoukville, takings have plummeted as Chinese travelers find themselves subject to a host of restrictions at home and abroad.

"We haven't had any Chinese for 10 days since they closed the road from Yunnan," says Ong Tau, 47, from behind her stall of fruit shakes in the temple-studded Laotian colonial town of Luang Prabang.

"Business is down 20-30 percent... it will get worse."

Tour guides, mall workers and restaurant staff are all feeling the burn as Chinese -- the world's biggest travellers -- stay at home in the middle of a global health crisis.

"My friend has lost four or five big tour groups... they would have paid for his low season," said Tee, a guide in Luang Prabang, giving only one name in the tightly-controlled communist country, a mass of tuk-tuks standing idle behind him.

But in one of Southeast Asia's least well-resourced countries, there may be one bright side to the sudden economic pain.

"We don't know how to protect ourselves," he added. "The government doesn't tell people anything... so maybe less Chinese is a good thing for now."

Loans and job losses

The slump is being felt sharply in Thailand, where tourism authorities say arrivals from China -- usually close to one million a month -- have plunged by 90 percent so far this February.

At the Chang Siam Elephant Park in Pattaya, a few hours south of Bangkok, owner Nantakorn Phatnamrob fears he will soon be pressed into debt to float a business which has lost nearly $65,000 since the outbreak.

"People are afraid to visit," he told AFP. "If it stays like this, I will have to get a loan from the bank."

Crocodile farms and tiger sanctuaries -- controversial tourist beacons where visitors can pet the animals -- are also deserted, leaving owners to feed expensive star attractions.

The outbreak has also spooked western tourists at the height of peak season in what has already been a tough period for Thai tourism thanks to a strong baht.

Thailand anticipates shedding five million tourists this year, taking with them "250 billion baht (over $8 billion) in revenue", according to Don Nakornthab, director of economic policy at Bank of Thailand.

"Our hopes that the economy will do better than last year are very low... it's possible it could grow below 2 percent," he added.

That will spell bad news for the untold number of Thais working in the tourism sector.

Ma Mya, 22, who sells trinkets in Pattaya, says she may soon have to return to her home in northern Thailand.

"There's no more profit -- everything has gone bad."

Things can only get better

With so much riding on the seasonal influx, some Mekong countries are desperate not to deter those Chinese still traveling.

Thailand offers visa on arrival for Chinese tourists despite having one of the highest numbers of confirmed infections -- 34 -- outside of the mainland.

At least two of those cases were Thais who contracted the virus after driving infected Chinese passengers, raising fears that the economy was taking priority over tackling the health crisis.

For staunch Beijing ally Cambodia, where only one case of the virus has been confirmed so far despite a large Chinese presence, strongman leader Hun Sen has repeatedly played down the risk to his country.

Still, Cambodian tourism is taking a hammering.

Ticket sales at the famed Angkor temple complex in Siem Reap have fallen between 30 and 40 percent this year, while in Sihanoukville, a southern beach resort notorious for its casinos, the tourist take has shriveled.

"I used to make $100 a day," said Chantha Reak, a ride-hailing driver. "Now it's $10."

Businesses are praying for a bounce back if and when the virus is controlled.

With 10 million Chinese visitors each year, Thailand hopes the pain will ease in a few months.

Regular visitor Yen Ran, 25, from Chengdu, came to Pattaya despite the health warnings.

"I am a little concerned how other countries perceive us," she told AFP. "But when there's a cure, things will get better."

Source - TheJakartaPost

Schengen countries extend suspension of visa issuance in China in wake of coronavirus

China

Following the suspension of all visa issuance in China, due to the coronavirus outbreak, the visa centers of the seven Schengen member countries that were supposed to re-open on Feb. 3, have remained closed.

The member countries have instead announced that the suspension period will be extended until Feb. 9 at the earliest.

A notice published by the Slovak visa center in China indicated that the re-opening of the centers may change, dependent on advice from authorities.

“In light of the current coronavirus alert, please note that the Slovakia Visa Application Centers across China will remain closed until Feb. 9 (included). However, the re-opening of the centers may change, subject to further notifications from central, provincial and city authorities. We apologize for the inconvenience and appreciate your understanding and kind co-operation. Please return to this page for further updates,” the notice reads as reported by schengenvisainfo.com.

As there is no improvement in the coronavirus epidemic, with the death toll rising to 497 as of Wednesday, authorities for the Schengen member countries extended their closure for at least a week more than intended.

The Schengen members involved are:

    Austria – Feb. 9
    Belgium – Feb. 9
    Estonia – Feb. 10
    Liechtenstein – Feb. 10
    Norway – Feb. 10
    Slovakia – Feb. 9
    Switzerland – Feb. 10

France remains the only Schengen country that has announced the closure of the Wuhan Visa Application Center, while the European Union prepares to tighten entry conditions for Chinese nationals who have traveled to China in recent months.

Cautionary action has been taken by numerous countries as the coronavirus has infected more than 20,000 people in China since emerging in December and has now spread to more than 20 countries. 

Source - TheJakartaPost

#Russia suspends visa-free tourist travel to and from China over virus

Russia said on Saturday it was suspending visa-free travel for tourists to and from China to help contain the outbreak of a new coronavirus that emerged in China.

A bilateral visa-free regime for tourist groups agreed on in 2000 will suspended from Feb. 2, a government decree said.

Russia will also temporarily stop accepting and issuing documents for work visas to Chinese nationals.

Russia reported its first two cases of coronavirus on Friday and restricted direct flights to China, its biggest trade partner.

The Russian military is to start evacuating Russian citizens from China due to the outbreak. 

Source - TheJakartaPost

#China virus sends shockwaves through Asia tourist industry

A deadly virus that has prompted travel restrictions in China is sending shockwaves through Asia's tourism industry, which has become increasingly reliant on growing numbers of Chinese visitors.

At least 81 people have died since the new strain of coronavirus emerged in China's Wuhan, and millions are now under an effective quarantine, with all flights in and out of the city grounded and a ban on Chinese tour groups domestically and abroad.

The measures come amid a boom in Chinese foreign travel, with the number of tourists from the country increasing nearly tenfold since 2003, according to a report by research firm Capital Economics.

But businesses in destinations that rely on the huge numbers of Chinese tourists are already feeling the heat, with complaints of "deserted" beaches and shops, and concerns about the future.

There will be a less immediate impact in Europe, which is currently off peak season for visitors from China.

The outbreak carries echoes of the SARS crisis, which paralyzed regional travel and battered local economies from late 2002. Chinese tourist numbers then fell by around a third.

"If they fell by a similar amount again, it would knock around 1.5-2.0 percentage points from (gross domestic product) in the most vulnerable countries," Capital Economics said.

In Japan, the fall in Chinese visitors was already being felt in Asakusa, a popular tourist destination near the Sensoji temple.

"We've definitely been seeing less people this year," said Yoshie Yoneyama, 31, manager of a shop selling traditional Japanese sweets and a rice-based drink called amazake.

Beaches 'deserted'

"I think there are less than half the numbers of last year or the year before," she told AFP.

The number of Chinese holidaying in Japan has exploded from around 450,000 in 2003 to 8.4 million in 2018, accounting for 27 percent of all inbound tourists as Tokyo works to expand the sector.

But it will now be "very difficult" for Japan to achieve its target of 40 million tourists in 2020, Yuki Takashima, an economist at Nomura Securities, told AFP.

And the effects will be felt beyond hotels, restaurants and tourist sites, because many Chinese tourists visit Japan specifically to shop.

The crisis has already sent Japan's key Nikkei index plunging, with stock in Shiseido -- a cosmetics brand popular with Chinese tourists -- falling more than five percent on Monday.

"We can expect those stocks to continue to fall like dominoes," said Stephen Innes, chief market strategist at AxiCorp.

But he said Japan would be better placed to weather the storm than another top destination for Chinese tourists: Thailand.

Tourism accounts for 18 percent of the nation's GDP, with Chinese holidaymakers making up more than a quarter of total arrivals.

The country's tourism minister has already warned a crisis on the scale of SARS could cost an estimated $1.6 billion, and the effects are already clear in Phuket.

'Really serious'

"For two days, the streets, the shops and the beaches have been deserted," said Claude de Crissey, who owns a 40-room hotel and a restaurant on the island.

"Phuket has focused almost exclusively on Chinese tourism... if the situation continues, we will all be impacted," he told AFP.

Australia too, already reeling from the effects of the bushfire crisis, is likely to feel the impact.

Chinese visitor numbers doubled in the six years to June 2019, with mainlanders now accounting for 15 percent of Australia's inbound tourists.

Mario Hardy, CEO of the Pacific Asia Travel Association said it was hard to gauge how long the crisis would last.

"I would suspect the impact would be between three to six months, but it will really depend on how the situation evolves in the coming few weeks," he told AFP.

Source - TheJakartaPost