The short- to midterm spells disaster for the industry, however. While the UN World Tourism Organisation’s estimates are being constantly updated, in March they predicted a slump of between US$30 billion and US$50 billion in visitor spending this year. The Asia-Pacific region will be worst off, with a current predicted drop of 9 per cent to 12 per cent in international tourists. This is a rapid shift from the 5 per cent to 6 per cent growth forecast by the organisation in early January.

In Hong Kong alone, tourism arrivals slumped to 199,000 in February. According to figures from the Tourism Board, visits fell by more than 96 per cent compared with the previous year. On February 8, the government closed all but three border checkpoints with mainland China, which previously accounted for 80 per cent of visitors.

“In the travel industry, nobody is doing OK,” says Willem Niemeijer, CEO of Yanna Ventures and CEO and co-founder of Khiri Travel. He reported steady business in January and February, which has since seen a dramatic slump.

“Now, we’re in for at least two months of stagnant business. I’m being optimistic, you have to be in this industry. While this is huge, we’ve seen examples of the tourism industry bouncing back after all kinds of disasters. I expect once we’re over the worst, the rebound will be pretty fast.”

Many tourism-related operations will fold under the pressure of a drastic decline in business. Airlines globally are announcing temporary lay-offs to cope with the nosedive in bookings and spike in cancellations.

Cathay Pacific Airways was already struggling as a result of the drop in visitors to Hong Kong caused by months of anti-government protests that began in June. The coronavirus pandemic has led it to temporarily reduce flights by 96 per cent and ask all 33,000 employees to voluntarily take three weeks’ unpaid leave before the end of June.

In Siem Reap, Cambodia – gateway to the Angkor temples complex – small guest houses, hotels and restaurants are being forced to close their doors as tourism dries up. It is a scene being replicated across the region. “Some businesses, including good ones, won’t survive,” says Childs.

According to the World Travel and Trade Organisation, up to 50 million jobs in the travel and tourism sector worldwide are at risk due to the Covid-19 coronavirus – some 13 per cent of the total. This makes ensuring a quick bounce back when the time is right imperative for those affected.

Avid traveller Vanesha Jaiswal-Azad is from Kolkata, India, but lives in New York. Despite having to cancel upcoming trips to Mexico City, Barcelona and New Zealand, which she had been planning for almost a year, she says the chaos hasn’t shattered her confidence in travelling once the world gets back on track.

“I don’t think it will impact future travel”, says the 31-year-old, who has been compensated with travel credit to be used before March 2021. “I feel the travel industry will treat us fairly and refund us as long as cancellations are out of our control.”

In the meantime, there are some small silver linings. Carbon emissions have been reduced, with fewer planes in the sky and cars on the road. Environments in destinations dogged by mass tourism and overcrowding are being given the chance to breathe, and tourism authorities and industry players are being urged to use this period to carefully plan the rebound and how to control the tourism rush when it returns.

“Nothing goes in straight lines, so the disruption is the end of one cycle and the beginning of a new one, full of opportunities to get things right – and also the threat of going down the same path,” cautions Bill Barnett, managing director of Bangkok-based hospitality consultancy C9 Hotelworks.

In late February, before the mass global shutdown, Jens Hoogen and two friends visited Hoi An in Vietnam for the second time. The Australian artist, who lives in Bangkok, was shocked to return to an almost-deserted Hoi An Old Town, a stark contrast to his previous visit. The year before, he recalls being jostled in Hoi An’s crowded cobblestone streets.

“There’s no denying it’s a horrific time for businesses there,” says the 29-year-old. “But it was a very different experience without the crowds; it was almost unbearable last time. It’s definitely important for local economies that tourists come back, but maybe now is a good time to look at how to deal with these problems when they do return.”

“For example, Cambodia. What should Angkor Wat do?” asks Laurent Kuenzle, CEO of tour operator Asian Trails. “Limit the number of visitors per day that go inside the temple, redistribute people more among other temples? Eventually, they will have to. Will this coronavirus crisis spur them into doing it? Probably not, initially, because they will want to capitalise on the numbers.”

Kuenzle also predicts a plunge in prices in the wake of the crisis as everyone in the industry fights for their piece of the action. “In the short term, there will be very good deals because businesses need to get the cash-flow going. As people continue to travel, prices will normalise.”

Some changes are predicted in the way people travel and the experiences they seek, however. Childs expects interest in wellness tourism to grow, as well as in holidays that involve nature. She also predicts people will opt for remote destinations rather than traditionally bustling tourist hotspots.

“If people want to travel, they will travel,” says Kuenzle. “Once this situation eases up, maybe the first destination they will go to is within their own country, then the next place will be regional. But if they’ve always wanted to go far, for example to France, then they’ll go to France.”

Uncertainty remains over how long the coronavirus crisis will last. In the meantime, travellers are being reminded of the crucial role they will play in rekindling the livelihoods of the millions who rely upon tourism to survive – and when they do return to travelling, to do so in a more responsible way.

“Support local economies as much as you can,” says Kuenzle. “You see these zero dollar tours with the Chinese where all the money falls back to China. That doesn’t support local economies. You want to make sure local economies benefit as much as possible. The focus should really be on that.”