Mar 16 (Japan Times) - Major travel agency H.I.S. Co. said Monday its sales plunged 80.5% to Y38.86 billion ($356 million) in the November-January quarter from a year earlier due to a sharp decrease in travel demand caused by the continuing novel coronavirus pandemic.
H.I.S. logged an operating loss of Y11.68 billion and a net loss of Y7.98 billion in the three months through January, as the virus hit the tourism industry hard.
Governments around the world have restricted the entry of travelers at their borders in a bid to contain the COVID-19 disease, while the Japanese government suspended its nationwide travel subsidy program, aimed to help the tourism sector, on Dec. 28 due to a resurgence of virus infections across the country.
H.I.S. saw its domestic travel upbeat in November and December thanks to the Go To Travel campaign. But sales dived when the program was halted and another state of emergency declared by the government in January in the Tokyo metropolitan area and some other prefectures.
