The global tourism industry has suffered heavy losses, and countries have taken measures to solve the difficulties

The former lively and crowded St. Mark’s Square in Venice is now empty. The British Museum has announced that it will be temporarily closed to the public. The Trocadero Square next to the Eiffel Tower is left with statues standing alone. The number of tourists has dropped. "Run away" for food...

As the new crown pneumonia epidemic continues to spread around the world, many countries have temporarily adopted measures such as restricting entry, reducing the movement of people, closing public places and tourist attractions, and many countries' tourism industries have been hit hard. In response to the crisis, governments of various countries have introduced measures to aid the rescue. Related companies are also innovating and seeking changes under the epidemic, looking for opportunities to "self-help".

Global tourism blocked: Thailand's elephant "unemployed" Nara fawn seeks its own food

Recently, the World Tourism Organization released a report that tourism is one of the most seriously impacted industries in the world. It is estimated that the number of tourism in 2020 will decrease by 20% - 30% compared with that in 2019, and the international tourism revenue will decrease by 300 billion to 450 billion US dollars.

To prevent and control the epidemic, many countries announced the closure of shopping malls, tourism and entertainment facilities, and cut international flights to reduce the flow of people. According to the latest report of the World Tourism Council, 75 million jobs in the tourism industry are under threat due to the epidemic situation, and the output value of tourism industry is expected to lose 2.1 trillion US dollars in 2020.

Among them, the Asia Pacific region is the most seriously affected, 49 million tourism practitioners may lose their jobs, and the industry output value is expected to lose nearly 800 billion US dollars. According to Japan's daily news, the number of foreign tourists visiting Japan in March (estimated value) announced by the Japan Tourism Agency on April 15 dropped by 93% compared with the same period last year, exceeding the 62.5% drop in the second month after the earthquake in April 2011, setting a new record of the largest decline in history. Kansai University of Japan novel coronavirus pneumonia will reduce the commercial profits of the Japanese cherry blossom season this year by 40% compared to last year.

In Thailand, dozens of elephant gardens in northern Thailand have been forced to close, and thousands of elephants are facing problems such as "unemployment" and food shortage. According to a survey conducted by the Ministry of tourism and sports of Thailand, the loss of Thailand's tourism industry in 2020 is expected to be no less than THB 1.3 trillion (equivalent to about RMB 282.6 billion), and 2.3 million people engaged in tourism and related industries will face unemployment.

Tourism in other Southeast Asian countries has also been hit hard. According to the National Civil Aviation Administration of Cambodia, the number of tourists to Cambodia has decreased by 52% compared with the same period. The hotel occupancy rate in Bali has dropped below 5% since February, and many hotels have been forced to suspend business, according to the Indonesian Hotel and Restaurant Association. According to Singapore's Straits Times, the number of inbound and outbound travel bookings in Singapore fell by 80% in March compared with normal.

Europe's tourism industry has also been pressed the "pause" button. Breton, the European Union's head of industrial policy, said that affected by the epidemic, tourism losses in the EU region will reach 1 billion euro per month for some time to come.

French Foreign Ministry Secretary of state Jean Baptist lemouana said the epidemic hit the French tourism industry, with a quarterly loss of 40 billion euros. It is predicted that the number of tourists in France will decrease by 30% to 40% in 2020. According to the data released by the Croatian Tourism Administration, the number of foreign tourists visiting Croatia in the first three months of 2020 decreased by 33% compared with the same period last year, the number of overnight visitors decreased by 20% year on year, and the number of foreign tourists in March dropped sharply by 80.3% year on year.

According to the prediction made by the Italian Tourism Federation in early March, the number of Italian tourists will decrease by nearly 32 million from March to May this year, with a loss of more than 7 billion euros. The Spanish tourism association predicts that Spain's tourism revenue is expected to lose 55 billion euro in the whole year, down 32.4% year-on-year.

The depression of tourism has paralyzed the hotel, catering and transportation industries. If the epidemic continues, a large number of small and medium-sized enterprises in related fields will go bankrupt and the employees will face the risk of unemployment.

The government's rescue: "financial" subsidies, tax incentives

To alleviate the negative impact of the epidemic on the economy, governments of various countries have introduced relief measures to help small and medium-sized enterprises and self-employed individuals affected by the epidemic through financial subsidies.

The meeting of finance ministers of EU member states reached agreement on the implementation of a large-scale rescue plan totaling 540 billion euros. Russian President Vladimir Putin asked the government to support the tourism, public catering, and hotel industries most affected by the epidemic, and provide direct free financial assistance to these small and medium-sized enterprises from the national level. Australia announced a 17.6 billion Australian dollars fiscal plan to help the economy withstand the impact of the new crown virus. The government will also spend 6.7 billion Australian dollars in the next four years to help the cash flow of small and medium-sized enterprises; Germany announced the launch of a total The livelihood policy with a budget of 50 billion euros is used to help small businesses and freelancers...

In addition to financial subsidies, some countries have also introduced relevant measures to focus on supporting tourism-related enterprises. Indonesia has launched two consecutive rounds of economic stimulus plans, including providing assistance funds to local airlines and travel agencies, subsidizing marketing activities in 10 tourist destinations including Bali, and providing flight discounts for domestic tourists to tourist destinations. Related hotels Tax exemption for hotels and restaurants for 6 months; Malaysia promotes the development of local tourism through various incentives such as the issuance of travel e-coupons, hotel service tax exemption, and personal income tax reduction; the German government urges tourists unable to travel due to the epidemic to try not to make claims or refunds The request for cash is to accept the “bond” of the tourism undertaking; the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of China and the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China signed an agreement, and the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China will provide 100 billion yuan of additional credit lines for the cultural and tourism industry to help cultural and tourism companies sleepy.

Some experts pointed out that after the impact of the epidemic, some new trends may appear in the global tourism industry. Due to the different epidemic situation in various countries and entry restrictions and other measures, many people have concerns about long-distance travel. Short-distance travel, domestic travel or self-driving travel with a relatively more sense of security may become a new growth point in the future. The epidemic also provides an opportunity for the tourism industry to shift its marketing focus to domestic tourists.