Interview: European tourism operators urged not to cancel Chinese bookings in show of solidarity

0 Comment(s)Print E-mail Xinhua, February 18, 2020
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BRUSSELS, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- As mega cities in China are being quarantined to contain the novel coronavirus from further spreading, the country's outbound international traveling has shrunk sharply, dealing a blow to the world's tourism markets including the European Union (EU).

While the EU tourism industry is undoubtedly affected, though not the hardest, by the plunge of Chinese arrivals, the operators here are told not to cancel the bookings made by Chinese travelers, but to reschedule or postpone the itineraries as a contingency measure.

"It's not even an economic factor. It's also like an element of friendship, you know, friendship between two friends, two cultures that have to work together now, in good times but also in bad times," Eduardo Santander, Executive Director of the European Travel Commission (ETC), told Xinhua.

The umbrella and collective promoter of 33 European national tourist organizations has sent a clear message to its members to show solidarity, to keep business going, to talk to partners and to find solutions before a cancellation is inevitable, he said.

China has been the second biggest source of tourists visiting EU destinations for years.

Santander said Tourism Economics anticipated Chinese arrivals in the range of 7 percent and 25 percent lower in 2020 compared to the forecast before the outbreak, equating to between 1 million and 3.7 million fewer Chinese arrivals.

"We have crises related to contagious diseases, we have SARS, we have bird flu, but also we have had terrorism and so on," said Santander, who has over 15 years of experience in tourism marketing.

"Fear is the biggest enemy in this kind of crisis, in particular for the tourism sector which is very very sensitive to the psychological changes of perception of destinations, travelers of origin and so on," he said.

The good thing about tourism, he said, is probably that it is the most resilient business sector. "Normally we bounce back very easily and also fast," he recalled the previous experience.

"It's a force of good. The more you travel, the more you learn, the more you understand, and the more you accept and respect," he underlined.

As for cases shown on social media about Chinese visitors being harassed in Europe, Santander lashed the faulty individuals for "lack of education, lack of information."

"This is absolutely wrong," he said, "and you cannot associate a virus just with a nationality..." He said nobody should be stigmatized, "this is absolutely one of the principles of the European citizenship." Enditem

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