Five million people will lose their jobs this year in the worldwide tourism industry because of the SARS epidemic and the economic slump, with Asia by far the hardest hit region, the UN said in a report.
"The capacity of the travel and tourism industry to create employment seems severely damaged by recent events," the UN's International Labor Organization said. "The estimate dampens optimism that began early in 2003 that the worst of the aftermath of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the US might be over."
The travel and tourism industry, which employs about 80 million people, has lost 11.5 million jobs since late 2001, according to the UN.
Travel and tourism employment in China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan and Vietnam, the countries most affected by SARS, will decrease by as much as 30 percent, the report said.
Fifteen percent reductions are forecast for Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Fiji and Kiribati. The rest of the world will average 5 percent reductions, according to the UN.
SARS has killed at least 587 people worldwide and infected 7,628 people in 32 countries, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), a UN agency. China, Hong Kong and Taiwan are the three most infected countries.
Two positive developments came on Wednesday, when the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta said events involving people traveling from areas affected by SARS should go on as scheduled.
The WHO also removed Toronto from a list of areas where the disease is spreading and canceled a recommendation that travelers be screened when leaving Canada.
The World Tourism Organization, another UN agency, said SARS has reduced tourism more than last year's terrorist attack on Bali or the war on Iraq. Instead of growing by up to 2 percent in 2003, as previously forecast, tourism income worldwide is expected to decrease by 7 percent, the UN said.
The UN cited reports of decreases in occupancy or cuts in service from seven Asian airlines. The list includes Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd, Air New Zealand Ltd, Singapore Airlines Ltd, Asiana Airlines, Garuda Indonesia, Bangkok Airways and Malaysia Airlines Capital.
Business travel in Asia, which represents a fifth of the US$250 billion global total, will decrease by 5 percent this year after experiencing double-digit growth in each of the past four years, the UN said.
The occupancy rate in the most fashionable Hong Kong hotels is down to 14 percent and the nation may lose 6 percent of GDP as long as the outbreak continues.
Four major hotels in Shanghai have closed for three months because of a lack of guests, according to the UN.
Francesco Frangialli, secretary-general of the UN tourism organization, said in a statement that a "wave of paranoia" is causing areas not seriously infected with SARS to suffer losses.
He cited India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Cambodia, the Philippines and Thailand.
He warned governments and the travel and tourism industry against overreacting to SARS, noting that only five cases of the disease are believed to have resulted from transmission in an airplane and that those occurred before security measures went into effect.
Singapore Airlines, Asia's most profitable carrier, announced its fifth round of flight cuts, taking its total capacity reduction to 31.5 percent of services, or 358 weekly flights between April and June. It previously said it would cut 298 flights, or 29 percent of total capacity.
Hong Kong Airport Authority, which runs the world's fifth-busiest airport, handled 69 percent fewer passengers in April than in the same month last year because of the epidemic.
Overall, Asian carriers have canceled more than 1,150 weekly flights in May because of the disease, according to the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines.
NO HUMAN ERROR: After the incident, the Coast Guard Administration said it would obtain uncrewed aerial vehicles and vessels to boost its detection capacity Authorities would improve border control to prevent unlawful entry into Taiwan’s waters and safeguard national security, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday after a Chinese man reached the nation’s coast on an inflatable boat, saying he “defected to freedom.” The man was found on a rubber boat when he was about to set foot on Taiwan at the estuary of Houkeng River (後坑溪) near Taiping Borough (太平) in New Taipei City’s Linkou District (林口), authorities said. The Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) northern branch said it received a report at 6:30am yesterday morning from the New Taipei City Fire Department about a
IN BEIJING’S FAVOR: A China Coast Guard spokesperson said that the Chinese maritime police would continue to carry out law enforcement activities in waters it claims The Philippines withdrew its coast guard vessel from a South China Sea shoal that has recently been at the center of tensions with Beijing. BRP Teresa Magbanua “was compelled to return to port” from Sabina Shoal (Xianbin Shoal, 仙濱暗沙) due to bad weather, depleted supplies and the need to evacuate personnel requiring medical care, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesman Jay Tarriela said yesterday in a post on X. The Philippine vessel “will be in tiptop shape to resume her mission” after it has been resupplied and repaired, Philippine Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, who heads the nation’s maritime council, said
CHINA POLICY: At the seventh US-EU Dialogue on China, the two sides issued strong support for Taiwan and condemned China’s actions in the South China Sea The US and EU issued a joint statement on Wednesday supporting Taiwan’s international participation, notably omitting the “one China” policy in a departure from previous similar statements, following high-level talks on China and the Indo-Pacific region. The statement also urged China to show restraint in the Taiwan Strait. US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell and European External Action Service Secretary-General Stefano Sannino cochaired the seventh US-EU Dialogue on China and the sixth US-EU Indo-Pacific Consultations from Monday to Tuesday. Since the Indo-Pacific consultations were launched in 2021, references to the “one China” policy have appeared in every statement apart from the
More than 500 people on Saturday marched in New York in support of Taiwan’s entry to the UN, significantly more people than previous years. The march, coinciding with the ongoing 79th session of the UN General Assembly, comes close on the heels of growing international discourse regarding the meaning of UN Resolution 2758. Resolution 2758, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1971, recognizes the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as the “only lawful representative of China.” It resulted in the Republic of China (ROC) losing its seat at the UN to the PRC. Taiwan has since been excluded from