China has curbed travel and stepped up screening to try and curb the spread of the virus which emerged in December. The New Zealand tourism industry is preparing to take a major hit as the coronavirus leads to a flood of cancellations by Chinese visitors. One New Zealand hotel chain has already lost bookings from about 800 Chinese guests after 20 tour groups cancelled over the weekend. Chair of the NZ Chinese Travel and Tourism Association Simon Cheung said his vehicle rental business had so far received five cancellations of bookings from small groups, but he was hopeful they would rebook in a month or so. He plans plans to call an emergency meeting of his leadership team to consider information from the Ministry of Health and tourism Industry Aotearoa.

Source: Stuff January 26, 2020 22:52 UTC