As the Wuhan coronavirus outbreak worsens, major hotel chains in China have now announced that they will no longer be charging customers who cancel their travel plans. Some hotel operators have also started offering full refunds for people that have chosen not to push through with their travel plans for the Lunar New Year holidays.
Millions of people are expected to travel to see their relatives or go on holiday in the coming weeks as part of the annual Lunar New Year holidays in China. However, most of those plans have now been canceled as the government has issued orders to essentially lock down establishments that tend to gather a lot of people in one place. This includes theme parks, cinemas, malls, and other similar establishments.
This week, at least seven large hotel chains have made announcements that they will be offering free changes or cancellations to bookings made up to February 8. This will allow customers who have canceled their travel plans to either receive refunds or instead stay in a similarly branded hotel in another city or country.
The hotels that have made the announcements include The Peninsula Hotels, Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts, Marriot International, InterContinental Hotels & Resorts, Hilton, Accor, and Rosewood Hotels and Resorts.
In its website, Shangri-La stated that all of its booked guests that had travel plans to China can opt to stay in its other international hotels. The hotel operators also assured guests that it is working closely with government authorities and will provide all the support necessary.
As of Friday last week, China's National Health Commission has confirmed a total of 875 cases of infection across the country. At least 26 people have succumbed to the severe symptoms of infection and have died. The Chinese government has so far locked down eight major mainland cities in an attempt to control the spread of the infection.
Travelers who were not aware of being infected by the virus managed to spread the disease to other countries. So far, cases have been confirmed in countries such as the United States and the United Kingdom. Countries that are popular destinations for Chinese travelers have all started to impose strict security measures to prevent any infected individuals from entering the country.
Last week, the United States' Center for Disease Control and Prevention had issued a Level 3 travel alert for Wuhan City, China. The alert essentially warns against non-essential travel to the country. The US' travel alert along with similar alerts from other countries is expected to deal a huge blow to China's travel and tourism sector.
