Illustrative stock photo (source: SME)
The steep decrease in demand for travelling has already affected the Slovak market. Hotels and travel agencies started feeling the first effects, also due to the lower interest in accommodation.
The European Commissioner for the internal market Thierry Breton estimated the impact of the fears over the spreading coronavirus on European tourism at a billion euros a month. Slovakia's tourism will suffer losses as well, and the situation might get worse with confirmed cases in the country.
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European and Slovak tourism have recorded drops in two waves so far. The first one occurred when the virus started spreading in China, limiting the number of travelling Chinese.
The second wave rose when the virus spread in Europe, leading people to be more cautious about travelling. Moreover, Italy, Germany, France have closed tourist attractions and companies cancelled bigger events to contain the spread of the virus.
The negative impact of the coronavirus can be compared to the most serious crises that tourism has experienced, from the SARS epidemic some 20 years ago to the financial crisis in 2008. Slovak hotel owners and travel agencies fully realise that.
