For the past week, coronavirus has more and more dominated the news cycles, and especially so for travel-related news as both the effects and fear of the Covid-19 outbreak spread.
International conferences such as the Berlin ITB travel expo, the World Mobile Congress and the Leipzig Book Fair have been canceled; Zurich has closed its night clubs and Paris has put the Louvre and possibly more museums on hiatus and Britain has plans on the shelf for school closings and assistance by its military—and that's just a sample of the effect on events.
With it has come a near-collapse of travel to areas that have seen significant outbreaks, especially in Asia and now Italy. Airlines have been cancelling flights and routes both out of caution and because there is very low passenger demand. One European discount carrier (possibly Ryanair) has cancelled over 25% of its Italy domestic routes, and some airlines have reported more refunds than sales, possibly leading to serious financial trouble for some.
While the financial effects of the cancellations and closures elsewhere is still unclear, one area of the travel-and-vacation industry has its own solution: Increase fees. Las Vegas hotels, which use so-called 'resort fees' to hide the actual cost of hotel rooms, and now sharply increasing them on guests who show up to recoup some of the revenue lost from those who don't. In some cases, including Bally's, the resort fee is now greater than the room rate.
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