Demand for travel from North America to Europe plummeted immediately
after the Covid-19 outbreak in northern Italy, according to travel analytics
firm ForwardKeys.  

In the last week of February, Europe bookings from North
America were down 68.1% year over year. That decline came amid an even larger
global collapse in bookings to Europe – a 79% decrease in the last week of
February.

In comparison, worldwide Europe bookings were down 23.7% from
Jan. 20 (when China imposed restrictions on outbound travel) through Feb. 22 (when
the Covid-19 outbreak in northern Italy began). 

For Italy alone, the number of cancellations exceeded new
bookings in the last month of February, ForwardKeys said. 

“The arrival of the Covid-19 virus in Italy marks a new
phase in the travel crisis in Europe,” said Olivier Ponti, vice president of
insights for ForwardKeys. “The drop-off in bookings to Italy is even worse than
we have observed in the past for some of the most disruptive events such as
terror attacks. The booking behavior appears to be disproportionate, as parts
of Europe other than Italy are experiencing very substantial declines in
visitor interest.”

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