China Overseas Chinese Network, August 4th, title: How are those overseas "check-in places" now?

　　Suddenly the ticket in his hand "is out of fragrant".

　　The itinerary on the travel plan also fell through.

　　When the new crown pneumonia epidemic hits, whether it is the resistance of various countries to implement epidemic prevention measures, or the personal worries of infection from the perspective of travelers, these factors have had an impact on the tourism industry.

　　Now, how about those overseas travel "check-in places"?

Tour data is bleak

　　Reduce, lose, hit hard...

　　Speaking of the tourism industry in the first half of 2020, you can basically use these words to summarize.

Data map: Photographed by Lu Shaowei, a reporter from China News Agency on the streets of Japan

First look at the Asian countries that are closer to China.

　　According to estimates released by the Japan Tourism Agency, there were 2,600 foreign tourists visiting Japan in June, a year-on-year decrease of 99.9% for three consecutive months. The total number of tourists visiting Japan in the first half of this year was only 3.947 million, a year-on-year decline of 76.3%. Since April, the accommodation and transportation industries have been in trouble.

　　The Director of the National Tourism Administration of Thailand stated on July 8 that the number of foreign tourists visiting Thailand this year will drop from about 40 million last year to 8.2 million, a decrease of about 80% year-on-year. The governor of the Bank of Thailand said on the 20th that it may take several years for international inbound tourists to return to the level of 40 million.

Data map: The empty road next to the Grand Palace in Bangkok, Thailand

　　The State Secretary of the Ministry of Tourism of Cambodia stated that in the first four months of this year, Cambodia received only 1.16 million international tourists, a decrease of 52% year-on-year. It is estimated that international tourists will fall by 70% this year, and the tourism industry will lose about 3 billion US dollars in revenue.

It is predicted that popular tourist destinations in Europe and North America, such as France, Greece, Italy, Portugal, etc., may lose billions of dollars.

　　The Louvre, a famous tourist attraction in Paris, was closed for 3 and a half months and reopened to the public on July 6. In accordance with the epidemic prevention regulations, an appointment system was adopted. Only 500 tourists were received every half hour. 7,000 tourists made reservations on that day. It is much lower than the previous daily passenger flow of more than 30,000 people. The Louvre said that it had lost 40 million euros in revenue by the time the museum closed.

Data map: Photographed by Li Yang, reporter from China News Agency, Louvre

　　In the famous "Piazza di Spagna" in Rome, Italy, the passenger flow is only 15%, and many stores are still closed. Some small businesses permanently close their shops and give up their businesses completely. The "core" of the crisis is that foreign tourists are "missing".

　　According to data from the Swiss Federal Bureau of Statistics, last year there were 1.8 million Chinese tourists and more than 2 million American tourists staying locally. Today, they are absent. "Without Chinese tourists, we lost at least 684 million in revenue."

Data map: Swiss streets under the epidemic

The situation of the US tourism industry can be seen through the aviation industry.

　　"Although we believe that our passenger revenue in June was better than other airlines in the industry, it was reduced by more than 80% compared to June 2019." said the CEO and President of American Airlines.

The tourism industry in Oceania is also grim.

　　Queenstown is a famous tourist city in New Zealand. According to local officials, compared with previous ski seasons from July to August, it is now completely dependent on domestic tourists and tourism revenue has dropped sharply by at least 270 million New Zealand dollars. If no international tourists arrive before the end of the year, local officials Nearly 8,000 tourism-related jobs will be lost.

　　According to Australian government data, the local tourism industry has lost nearly A$6 billion in three months. In the first quarter, international tourist spending fell by 3.9 billion yuan from the same period last year, a 27% drop.

Data map: Photo by Tao Shelan, a reporter from China News Service in Sydney, Australia

　　Overall, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development issued a report on July 1 stating that affected by the epidemic, the global tourism industry has been stagnant for nearly 4 months, causing at least US$1.2 trillion in losses, or 1.5% of global GDP.

Facing the "cold winter" of the tourism industry, how do localities respond?

Delayed large-scale opening due to pressure

　　The original opening plan of the state of Hawaii in the United States was that travelers could go to the local area from August 1st, as long as they showed a proof that they tested negative for new coronary pneumonia 72 hours before boarding, they did not need to be isolated.

　　However, the increasing number of confirmed cases in the United States has delayed the reopening of Hawaii to out-of-state tourists for a month, until September 1.

Hope for local tourists

　　In Paris, as the number of foreign tourists has greatly reduced, tourism practitioners are counting on local residents to help save the holiday season.

　　In the opinion of industry analysts, “For the French, this is indeed an opportunity to fully enjoy Paris. Due to the lack of foreign tourists, hotels, restaurants, shops, parks and museums are all empty.”

　　The cruise on the Seine was full of foreign tourists on weekdays. At present, local French tourists are the most important group of passengers on the boat. Due to the implementation of the free ticket policy for children under 12 years old this year, many families go sightseeing with their families in the afternoon.

Data map: Eiffel Tower photo by China News Agency reporter Li Yang

　　At the famous “Jules Verne” restaurant on the Eiffel Tower, the customers are basically French locals, but before the epidemic, local customers only accounted for about half.

　　Singapore launched the "Re-discover Singapore" campaign, spending S$45 million to boost local tourism. The content of this activity includes cooperation with local communities to help residents discover scenic spots in the country; cooperation with hotels, travel agencies, etc., to launch attractive discount activities.

Data Map: Singapore Merlion Park

　　Tourism Australia will increase its domestic marketing efforts in the coming months. The Minister of Trade and Tourism said: “As some state borders begin to open in the coming weeks, the best thing for the tourism industry now is to let people Book and travel to a safe area because it will help save a small business or some compatriots’ jobs."

Looking forward to the "return" of Chinese tourists

　　With the gradual easing of the epidemic, in order to restart the tourism exchange between China and Italy, an assistance program came into being and was sponsored by the Italian National Tourism Administration. The initiator of the project stated that they hope to attract Chinese tourists through the project and bring opportunities to the tourism industry and the Italian economy.

Data Map: Venice, Italy

　　A spokesperson for the Swiss National Tourism Administration once said that the problem of Chinese tourists' "absence" is too serious. A few days ago, the European Union allowed passengers from 14 countries and regions to enter, and opened it to China "conditionally." This news has made many European tourist countries look forward to it, including Switzerland.

Try to transform and seek new development

　　The Mayor of Queenstown, New Zealand believes that in the past, the local area was overly dependent on traditional tourism. In the future, it will try to diversify the urban industry, especially the elderly tourism, film tourism and sports industry. Projects such as large-scale movie shooting can stimulate local consumption and employment, and also help. National tourism image promotion.

　　A Chinese travel company based in New Zealand tried to combine the social network live broadcast platform with the travel experience, and the virtual travel experience with local product sales to explore a new way of “live streaming with goods”.

　　Speaking of live-streaming goods, in order to match the shopping habits of Chinese consumers, a Japanese company responsible for online information publishing has proposed to try to use live-streaming sales in response to the decline in Chinese tourists. They cooperated with a cross-border e-commerce company to arrange for several Chinese women to stroll on the streets and "live broadcast" the goods. Chinese consumers can place orders online based on their recommendations.

Data map: Photographed by Lu Shaowei, a reporter from China News Agency, a shopping mall in Tokyo, Japan

　　A hotel in Wellstown, Maine, USA, said that it would pay for the new crown virus detection fee for its guests;

　　Many places in France have introduced measures to attract tourists, such as red envelopes, "passes", lucky draws, champagne...

　　It can be seen that the tourism industry everywhere is looking forward to the arrival of more tourists. It is believed that when the "haze" of the epidemic dissipates, the "cold winter" of the tourism industry will eventually become the past, and the new encounter will continue the "warmth".

　　(Source: Japan's "Chinese Herald", "European Times," Cambodia "Cambodia China Daily", the United States Chinese network, Xinhua and so on; Author: Liang different; ID: qiaowangzhongguo)