AMSTERDAM - The coronavirus also strikes in tourism. The travel and aviation industry is being hit hard, now that more and more holidaymakers decide to postpone their trip for fear and/or necessity.
Corendon currently has 40% fewer bookings than normal during this period, CEO Atilay Uslu told ING Business Boost. But: Uslu also looks at the situation after the virus.
Next to the sharp decrease in vacations - now about 1000 bookings per day - Uslu and Corendon have another challenge: they open a new hotel on Curaçao in early April for which suppliers from various countries still have to deliver things. The hotel directly employs 600 people, but everything must be complete during the opening. "We will, of course, take care of that," says Uslu.
He certainly also focuses on the situation after the coronavirus, he said in an interview on stage at ING Business Boost. “Certainly. If everything gets going again, we must also be able to cope with that situation.” Procrastination can, after all, cause a "last-minute boom" in the long term, so that everyone books at the same time. Research from travel website Weflycheap.nl says more than 84 percent of the travelers who postponed the trip, still, book the holiday as soon as the coronavirus is over.
Especially to Italy and the Canary Islands, it completely collapsed, the ANVR told AD. “People wait with books for the May or summer vacation. They first want to see how the coronavirus develops,” says spokeswoman Mirjam Dresmé. It's a big damper for the travel industry, but that's not all.
The negative travel advice issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to several areas in northern Italy is also financially affecting a number of travel organizations. A negative travel advice means that the organizations must cancel or rebook the trips to destinations for which code has been issued red and free of charge and these costs are borne by the travel organizations themselves.
“There is no reserve or insurance for that. That is simply business risk,” says Dresmé. The free cancellation or rebooking only applies to trips that are planned for the short term, not to trips that would depart in a few weeks or a few months. “We are keeping a close eye on the situation. That situation can change every day.”
The ANVR does not dare to say how much damage the coronavirus has caused the travel industry to date. None of the travel organizations are in financial difficulties. Several people did, however, appeal for a reduction in working time. A number would consider submitting a request for this. In the meantime, various companies have already taken austerity measures.
