Barcelona Bares Brunt of Mobile World Congress Cancellation and 12 Other Top Tourism Stories This Week

Europe’s Tourism Fallout From the Mobile World Congress Cancellation: Cancelling a major event like Mobile World Congress will undoubtedly have a huge impact on the tourism industry. The question is whether the organizations that decided to cancel the event will provide any assistance to affected businesses.

Carnival Corp. Downgrades Earnings Guidance as Diamond Princess Remains Quarantined: The cruise industry’s operations in Asia are being battered by coronavirus, with Carnival Corp. in a particularly tough spot.

Singapore Slashes Visitor Arrival Estimates by a Third for 2020 as Coronavirus Tests Its Mettle: The growing number of coronavirus cases in Singapore has heightened worries about human-to-human transmission among travelers, but the government’s swift and clear response so far shows its ability to manage a crisis.

Travel Megatrends 2020: Gen Z Asserts Itself as Travel’s Next Big Opportunity: The millennial generation has been at the forefront of the collective mind of the travel industry for years. But starting in 2020, Generation Z will begin entering adulthood. The travel industry would be wise to shift some focus here if it wants to stay ahead of the game.

What Will Be the Blowback From China to Countries That Banned Its Travelers During Virus Outbreak? Trip.com Group’s James Liang warned that countries that impose blanket bans on Chinese travelers will see a China tit-for-tat later. It may not happen, but here are some of the ways it could.

Coronavirus Crisis Exposes Low-Tech Achilles’ Heel of Tours and Attractions in Asia: For many players in Asia’s tours and activities space, dealing with mounting coronavirus cancellations is proving to be a pain point without the aid of robust technology systems in place. This crisis will be a sharp reminder that digitalization is the way to go

Coronavirus Puts Travel Advisors to the Test: Confusion and fears surrounding the coronavirus are putting travelers on edge and travel advisors in a difficult spot. Travel advisors can present the facts but should not try to influence cancellation decisions.

Why Trust Matters for Asia Tourism as Crisis Deepens: The coronavirus not only exposes the varying political alignments between Asian governments with China, but also their different approaches to crisis communications, all of which would have knock-on impacts on travel confidence to a country.

How a Women-Run Tour Company Plays a Role in Puerto Rico’s Tourism Efforts: As Puerto Rico’s tourism industry recovers, big business from global companies may sound great, but so does slow-and-steady growth based in local communities. Puerto Rican women are doing that community-focused work.

U.S. Travel Arrangement and Reservation Sector to Top $57 Billion in 2020: Skift Research Forecast: The travel arrangement and reservation services sector has experienced strong growth for the past few years and outperformed other major travel verticals. We believe this trend will continue in the next few years, aided by more digital transformation.

TUI Bets Big on Taking Thomas Cook Market Share: TUI CEO Fritz Joussen sounded much more upbeat than he did last December. While the Max grounding continues to cause problems for the company, holiday bookings for summer 2020 have grown. For now, it thinks it has the edge on its remaining competitors.

Cvent Group Bookings Down Even Before Potential Coronavirus Impact: A predicted dip in group bookings is making hotels more aggressive on bookings, with future uncertainty compounded by coronavirus and the 2020 election.

How Anxious Should Event Planners Be as Coronavirus Impact Looms? Event planners can expect increasingly aggressive pitches from hotels as group bookings decline and the threat of coronavirus continues to loom. The new year is already taking some unique turns.