MORE than 82% of Australian travel companies, including those in the cruise sector, have experienced cancellations as a result of the ongoing coronavirus crisis, according to an exclusive Travel Daily readership poll.
Of those cancellations noted, respondents listed trips to Asia as accounting for the most angst (47.4%), while 28.9% of scrapped holidays were to China alone.
Interestingly, the travel reticence also extends outside of Asia, with approximately one in seven aborted trips being to “other regions of the world”.
Forward bookings have also taken a hit, with close to a quarter of respondents claiming “many bookings” had been cancelled, while 47.6% said “some” level of business had been lost due to the virus.
Also of concern is the claim that travel inquiry is down overall, with a 40.7% reduction in in-bound travel enquiries noted by respondents, while there was also a 30.9% dip for Asia travel inquiry.
The survey allowed for the submission of anonymous commentary on the unfolding coronavirus situation, with worries over misinformation the most common concern.
“Our industry is in for the hardest times we have seen since 9/11, in my 15 years, I have never dealt with so much misinformation, anxiety-driven cancellations and such a big impact on my current bookings by way of cancellation,” one respondent said.
Another noted the importance of the coming month in determining what the overall impact on travel would be.
“The coming two to three weeks will be critical in determining the final impact, if new infection rates are stabilised and reduced from now, this could limit the overall impact,” they noted.
“However, hysteria is everywhere – e.g. Chinatown restaurants being empty, people cancelling trips to destinations where not one case has been reported”.
