The COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak has greatly impacted global travel since early February. It has spread to over 83 countries, with major outbreaks in South Korea, Japan, Iran, and Italy. As of 5 March, there have been over 95,000 cases and 3,000 deaths reported worldwide. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) warned that the crisis is becoming a global pandemic.
How has Covid-19 impacted the travel and hospitality industry?
The travel and hospitality industry has been severely affected by the outbreak. Inbound and outbound travel to China, one of the largest travel and tourism markets globally, has come to a standstill. Airlines and hotels have suffered significant financial losses due to the cancellation of tens of thousands of flights and hotel bookings worldwide. Europe, the Middle East, and Asia-Pacific are the most impacted regions. The International Air Transport Association (IATA) estimated that airlines alone could incur total losses as high as USD 113 billion in revenue this year due to the outbreak.
In line with flight and hotel bookings, numerous business meetings, conferences, and events have been cancelled or postponed due to government bans on large public gatherings. This includes trade shows like the ITB Berlin, sporting events such as the Chinese Grand Prix, World Bank and IMF meetings, as well as concerts and festivals. The severity of the outbreak has even raised concerns about cancelling the upcoming Tokyo Olympics in July. As a result, the global meetings, incentives, conferences, and exhibitions (MICE) activity has significantly decreased. According to a survey by the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) in late February, the business travel industry is projected to lose up to USD46.6 billion per month due to these cancellations.
How can Riskline help your company through Covid-19?
Given that COVID-19 has now reached a global dimension, Riskline stands ready to assist clients by providing the latest intelligence on the outbreak. We have a Special Report on COVID-19 available on our web portal that we update daily. The report provides updated case numbers and travel restrictions by country, along with steps to mitigate the risk of infection. We also maintain and update Travel Advisories for heavily affected countries, providing country-specific information for travellers. Our analysts provide up-to-date Alerts on major developments. We firmly believe that our suite of intelligence products will help you to weather the global storm caused by COVID-19. You can download a free sample of our special report here.
Read more about Riskline adding COVID-19 policies of over 65 airlines to our microsites.
