Coronavirus and Travel

Rather than boycotting travel to Myanmar entirely, a more responsible form of tourism would be to avoid unethical establishments while supporting good practices on the ground.

Hyatt Hotels had a strong year in 2019, so the story it had to tell on Thursday wasn't all dreary. The problem is that shareholders and guests hate uncertainty. And so far the travel industry faces nothing but uncertainty, left beholden to how the coronavirus crisis evolves.

For the moment, the drop in fuel price is benefiting Air France-KLM, but if the coronavirus outbreak doesn't ease off, this could all change.

IHG CEO Keith Barr seems to be taking quite a level-headed approach to the coronavirus outbreak. Unlike some in the travel industry, he's not pressing the panic button yet and is waiting to see how things play out.

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.

Wyndham Hotels and Resorts has closed about 1,000 of its hotels in China because of coronavirus. Those that remain are welcoming fewer guests. The outbreak continues to wreak havoc on the travel industry.

Canceling 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.

The cruise industry's operations in Asia are being battered by coronavirus, with Carnival Corp. in a particularly tough spot.

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.

The cancellation of a major event outside of China is a serious warning for meeting planners to take action to preempt concerns over the coronavirus.