Australia’s tourism sector set to take hit from coronavirus

The Australian government on Thursday decided on an extension of its China travel ban, one day after Japan’s expansion of its ban on travelers from China, in what could be a negative domino effect on the tourism sector at large, industry veterans said.

Australia, for its part, might see tourism, a fastgrowing part of its economy, lose steam as China, the top inbound tourism source for Australia, is expected to experience a pause in travel activity due to the outbreak of the novel coronavirus.

Australia’s National Security Committee met on Thursday and decided to extend a previously announced 14-day coronavirus ban that is set to expire on Saturday for an additional week. The new ban would be reviewed again before its expiration.

The decision came after Japan announced an expansion of its ban for passengers and passport holders of East China’s Zhejiang Province. The ban previously covered only Central China’s Hubei Province, the epicenter of the virus.

With concerns lingering over when the virus might genuinely peak before subsiding and how effective the economy would be in tackling the downward pressure from the viral onslaught, the tourism sector could be among the hardest-hit and the slowest to rebound, said Zhang Lingyun, a professor at Beijing International Studies University.

“Unlike the retail, education and other sectors that could see part of the impact offset by a shift toward deals made online, the tourism sector is almost all about the physical experience,” Zhang, a tourism expert, told the Global Times.

The May Day holiday that is supposed to be extended into five days this year as part of efforts to spur consumption might be canceled, as fears of the virus could persist until then, he said, noting that the extended Spring Festival holiday and delayed restart of production and work are likely to cut back on holiday plans.