Society

Japanese hotel bookings suffer 90 percent drop over coronavirus: survey

Mar 25 (Nikkei) - Some Japanese hotels saw March and April bookings drop as much as 90% year on year amid the new coronavirus outbreak, according to a survey conducted by the land ministry, as the tourism industry continues to teeter.

The survey, which examined the impact of the pandemic on tourism, also revealed a nearly 70% decline in business for small and mid-sized travel companies, as well as significant plunges for airlines and chartered bus operators.

The survey showed bookings and passenger traffic revenues for March and April, as of March 17.

A total of 97 companies in the hotel and accommodation sector responded to the survey, which showed bookings for the two months expected to plunge by 30% to 90% from the same months last year, depending on the company.

Meanwhile, 47 companies in the travel sector expect a 74% drop for March and 68% for April.

On average, 79 of the chartered bus operators polled expect a decline of 79% for March and 64% for April.

Airlines said the number of passengers are expected to decline by 60% for international flights and 45% for domestic flights in March, likely to decline of 46% and 45% in April, respectively.

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