The year travel came back was supposed to be this one. Many countries in Europe and Asia reopened their airports to tourists. They are facing a new reality, that Omicron is causing global panic, leading governments to shut borders again, and their biggest spenders are not returning any time soon.
International flights will be kept at 2.2 percent of pre-covid levels during the winter as part of China's effort to maintain a zero-covid approach. Since August, it has stopped issuing new passports and imposed a 14-day quark for all arrivals. Returning to China requires a lot of paperwork and multiple Covid-19 tests.
Many people have decided to stay. The result is that shopping malls, restaurants and hotels are empty. It is another blow to an industry that was just starting to recover. North and Southeast Asia are being affected by the downturn.
China has been the most important country for global travel in the past decade. Chinese tourists spent more money than all other nationalities. Travel revenues are unlikely to return to pre-prepandemic levels soon because of their absence.
It could take up to two years for China to reopen.
Chinese visitors have become an important market in Europe. The supervisor of the museum said that at least half of the visitors were from China.
The museum has attracted only 10 percent of its usual numbers since reopening. He said that it opened an online store this year to sell merchandise and souvenirs, and that a third of it was being shipped to China.
The director of the Colosseum in Rome said that they felt the absence of Chinese tourists.
The government in Vietnam says that 95 percent of tourism businesses have stopped operations because of the Pandemic.
In the Or Kor fruit market, where Chinese tourists used to gather around tables to eat durian, business has stopped. The durian seller used to keep up to 400 kilograms of the fruit in stock, but had to give it away three to four times a week to keep up with demand. She had to take a loan to make ends meet.
She said that the loss of income is huge. We are only holding onto the hope that it will get better someday.
