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Authors: Sui-Lee Wee, Elisabetta Povoledo, Muktita Suhartono and Léontine Gallois

This should be the year back from the trip. In Europe and Asia, many countries have reopened their airports and welcomed tourists. But they face a new reality: variants like Omicron are causing global panic, causing the government to close the border again, and their biggest consumer—Chinese tourists—will not return soon.

As part of its efforts to maintain zero Covid, China announced that winter international flights will remain at 2.2% of the pre-Covid level. Since August, it has almost completely stopped issuing new passports and imposed a 14-day quarantine on all immigrants. Returning to China also requires a lot of paperwork and multiple Covid-19 tests.

Many people there decided to stay where they were. The result: the shopping mall is empty, the restaurant is closed, and the hotel is empty. This is another blow to the industry that is just beginning to recover. The economic downturn particularly affected North Asia and Southeast Asia.

In the past decade, no country has been more important to global travel than China. In 2019, Chinese tourists spent about 260 billion U.S. dollars, more than tourists of all other nationalities. Their long absence means that travel income is unlikely to return to pre-pandemic levels anytime soon.

Analysts said that it may take up to two years for China to fully reopen.

In Europe, Chinese tourists have become an increasingly important market in recent years. For example, at the Sherlock Holmes Museum in London, the director of the museum, Paul Leharne (Paul Leharne) said that during peak times, about 1,000 people visit every day, and at least half of them are from China.

Since its reopening on May 17, the museum has only attracted 10% of the usual population. He said that this year, it opened an online store selling goods and souvenirs, about one-third of which were shipped to China.

"We really feel their absence," said Alfonsina Russo, director of the Colosseum, of Chinese tourists.

According to the Vietnamese government, in Vietnam, the pandemic has caused more than 95% of tourism companies to close or suspend operations.

At the Or Tor Kor fruit market in Bangkok, a large number of Chinese tourists once gathered at the table to eat durians, and business came to a standstill. Durian seller Phakamon Thadawatthanachok said that she used to stock 300 to 400 kilograms of this thorny fruit and had to replenish it three to four times a week to meet demand. Now, she has to borrow money to make ends meet.

"The loss of income is immeasurable," she said. "At the moment, we only hope that one day it will get better."