They are the annual journeys of late winter and early spring: Factory workers in China heading home for the Lunar New Year; US college students going on road trips and hitting the beach over spring break; Germans and Britons fleeing drab skies for some Mediterranean sun over Easter.
All of it canceled, in doubt or under pressure because of COVID-19.
Amid fears of new variants of the novel coronavirus, new restrictions on movement have hit just as people start to look ahead to what is usually a busy time of year for travel.
Photo: AFP
It means more pain for airlines, hotels, restaurants and tourist destinations that were already struggling more than a year into the COVID-19 pandemic, and a slower recovery for countries where tourism is a big chunk of the economy.
Colleges around the US have been canceling spring break to discourage students from traveling.
At bus and train stations in China, there is no sign of the annual Lunar New Year rush.
The government has called on the public to avoid travel following new COVID-19 outbreaks.
Only five of 15 security gates at Beijing’s cavernous central railway station were open; the crowds of travelers who usually camp on the plaza outside were absent.
The holiday, which starts on Friday, is usually the world’s single biggest movement of humanity as hundreds of millions of Chinese leave cities to visit their hometowns or tourist spots or travel abroad.
For millions of migrant workers, it usually is the only chance to visit their hometowns during the year.
This year, authorities are promising extra pay if they stay put.
The Chinese government has said people would make 1.7 billion trips during the holiday, but that would be down 40 percent from 2019.
Departures from Beijing and Chengdu in the southwest are forecast to drop 75 percent, travel associations have said.
US President Joe Biden reinstituted restrictions on travelers from more than two dozen European countries, South Africa and Brazil, while people leaving the US are now required to show a negative test before returning.
Canada barred flights to the Caribbean. Israel closed its main international airport. Travel into the EU is severely restricted, with entry bans and quarantine requirements for returning citizens.
For air travel, “the short-term outlook has definitely darkened” International Air Transport Association chief economist Brian Pearce said.
The UN World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) has said international arrivals fell 74 percent last year, wiping out US$1.3 trillion in revenue and putting up to 120 million jobs at risk.
A UNWTO expert panel had a mixed outlook for this year, with 45 percent expecting a better year, 25 percent no change and 30 percent a worse one.
“The overall prospects of a rebound in 2021 seem to have worsened,” the organization said.
In Europe, the outlook is clouded by lagging vaccine rollouts and the spread of the new coronavirus variants.
Places that can be reached by driving, such as Germany’s North Sea islands and the Alps, are benefiting to some extent because they offer a chance to isolate.
The German Vacation Home Association said the popular locations are 60 percent booked for July and August already.
Thailand, where about one-10th of the population depends on tourism for its livelihood, requires a two-week quarantine for foreigners at designated hotels costing about US$1,000 and up. So far, only a few dozen people a day have opted to visit.
Tourist arrivals last year fell to under 7 million in Thailand and are forecast to reach only 10 million this year, compared with 40 million in 2019.
Indonesia’s resort island of Bali has deported dozens of foreigners and began restricting foreign arrivals on Jan. 1 as its coronavirus caseload has exceeded 1 million.
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