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Posted by
26829 posts

Unless they start closing all the museums, etc. It's hard to know what to do if you haven't yet booked a flight, though I'm glad I haven't.

Posted by
1286 posts

"Fewer tourists" not "less tourists".

And whilst it might be nice to wander around "X" without the crowds, not so much if that's because all the sights have been closed and many restaurants aren't bothering to open. So, be careful what you wish for!

Posted by
19052 posts

Frank, now is the time to see China. I understand that tourism has really fallen off there!

Posted by
1611 posts

Also (as someone who has a trip to Italy booked for early May), I'm aware that, if there are travel advisories about that country issued by my government, and I go anyway and get sick, my travel insurance may not cover me. Something to consider.

Posted by
8934 posts

Frankfurt's old town area is empty. The Cathedral is void of visitors, there are hardly any tour buses where they usually are. The drug stores, bakeries, and restaurants around the tourist attractions are all suffering. The last trade fair was empty too. I imagine the hotels and restaurants that cater specifically to the Asian tourists must really, really be getting hit hard.
One of the tour guide FB pages I am on, has tour companies all over the world worrying about business as well as how to handle all of the cancellations that guests are making.

Posted by
5239 posts

If the media were as hysterical about the numbers of deaths from the influenza virus like they are with Coronavirus then the general public the world over would be in meltdown.

The vast majority of deaths from Coronavirus have been of people who were suffering respiratory illnesses and/or a compromised immune system, such people would likely have fallen victim to the flu anyway.

Posted by
3809 posts

If the media were as hysterical about the numbers of deaths from the
influenza virus like they are with Coronavirus then the general public
the world over would be in meltdown.

As of Feb 21, there have been 105 pediatric deaths in the US from flu this flu season. Coronavirus pediatric infections (in the US), I believe, are right at 0.

https://www.aappublications.org/news/2020/02/21/flu022120

Posted by
383 posts

I wonder if Hallstatt getting temporary relief from the thousands of Chinese tourists...

Posted by
1336 posts

The airlines appear to be feeling the pinch. Alaska is having a “flash sale” and I just got an email from jet blue saying:

“ To that end, we are waiving change and cancellation fees for all JetBlue fares—that includes Blue, Blue Basic, Blue Plus, Blue Extra and Mint—for customers who book over the next two weeks (2/27-3/11) for travel completed by 6/1/20. If you need to cancel your travel plans, we'll credit the amount in the form of a travel credit that's valid for one year.”

Posted by
7049 posts

Alaska had flash sales even before Covid-19 (I get all their email alerts)...so there is no difference. Southwest had/has 3-day flash sales too.

Posted by
6732 posts

The price of jetfuel has gone down significantly. The cost of jetfuel is one of the primary costs for all airlines. Some of them are actually benefitting financially from the virus. Of course, I'd imagine that can't go on forever.

Posted by
5310 posts

The trade at Bicester Village, a designer outlet village not far from Oxford heavily marketed to tourists especially Chinese has seen an 85% drop in trade as reported by some of the stores there. Maybe not that much in terms of total number people going there, but having gone passed it on the train recently the car parks that are normally heaving by mid day looked barely half full.

Posted by
847 posts

I'm sure Hallstatt is delightfully uncrowded. And I'm also sure those hotel and restaurant owners who have no business, thus no income are none too happy about it. How would you manage for the rest of the year if you suddenly had no income for several months?