China has been one of the travel industry’s biggest growth markets in recent years, and, trips in the Asia-Pacific region make up about 10 percent of the industry, according to the Cruise Lines International Association, a trade group. Between 8 and 9 percent of passengers on cruise lines represented by the trade group are from China, Macau or Hong Kong and the number of ships deployed in Asia grew 53 percent between 2013 and 2017. Hong Kong has been closed since Feb. 6. Passengers say that rather than trying to accommodate them, the cruise companies have been uncommunicative and unhelpful. As her concerns about the coronavirus grew, Ms. Priem repeatedly emailed and called the company asking if she could switch to a different cruise or receive a refund or future credit.

Source: International New York Times February 12, 2020 23:26 UTC