With over 80,000 confirmed cases and nearly 3,000 deaths in at least 39 countries, the Coronavirus that started in China’s Wuhan has turned into a global health emergency.
With 43 deaths and counting, the Islamic Republic of Iran boasts the highest number of fatalities after China, leading to a rapid spread of the virus across the entire GCC.
The virus’ most frightening effect is perhaps on the world economy, with Oxford Economists warning it could knock 1.3 percent off global growth this year.
Oil-rich GCC economies are particularly exposed, with leading airlines Emirates, Etihad Airways and flydubai restricting travel and flights.
The virus came just a few months after research by Colliers International predicted the number of Chinese tourists travelling to the GCC would increase 54 percent from 1.4 million in 2018 to 2.2 million in 2023.
The UAE, where Chinese visitors are currently the second and fourth highest ranked source markets for Abu Dhabi and Dubai, respectively, may be hit the hardest.
The Federal Authority for Identity and Citizenship (ICA) had also issued a decision to temporarily suspend travel using only the national identity cards of citizens of the UAE and other Gulf countries as cases of the new coronavirus soar.
Two hotels on Yas Island in Abu Dhabi are acting as temporary quarantine centres as UAE health officials attempt to stop the spread of the new coronavirus among cyclists taking part in the UAE Tour.
Saudi Arabia on Friday barred citizens from GCC from entering the Mecca and Medina.
Chinese tourists are also the world’s highest spenders while travelling abroad, with total outbound travel and tourism expenditure reaching $277 billion in 2018, according to the Colliers data. They were expected to generate an estimated $3.48 billion in travel and tourism revenue by 2023, an increase of 71 percent when compared with figures from 2018, with the UAE ranking the 9th most popular destination in the world for the 1.67 million Chinese outbound high net-worth individual (HNWI) travellers.
Now how exactly does this serve as a wake-up call for many countries?
“Most countries around Asia have a heavy reliance on the Chinese inbound market. If you look at Thailand, 27 percent of its tourists come from China. In other markets around China, sometimes it’s 50 percent. That number now is nearly zero or very small. So overnight people saw huge drops in bookings and travel.
So the message basically is – diversify your source markets.
(Source: Arabian Business YouTube channel)
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