A woman wearing a face mask uses her cellphone as she walks outside Beijing Railway Station as the country is hit by an outbreak of the new coronavirus, in Beijing, China January 30, 2020. REUTERS/Carlos Garcia Rawlins
CAIRO - 2 February 2020: Some 235,000 Chinese tourists visit Egypt every year, a figure that will decrease dramatically if the coronavirus crisis lasted for long, an Egyptian advisor to the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) said Sunday.
Advisor Said al-Batouti added in press statements that 200 million Chinese people leave their country yearly for the purpose of tourism, according to the 2019 UNWTO data, and the impact of coronavirus on that number and even on the number of non-Chinese tourists is "very bad" on the tourism worldwide.
The fear of catching the coronavirus will affect visitor exports in many countries, as people will think twice before deciding to travel and may decide against traveling as a precaution, Batouti explained.
Thus far, 25 countries have confirmed coronavirus cases, and most airlines banned flights from and to China as the World Health Organization declared coronavirus a public health emergency of international concern.
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