m1nd-set reports on main destinations to be impacted by Coronavirus
Amid growing industry concerns following the outbreak and development of the coronavirus in the Chinese city of Wuhan and the government imposed lockdown on public transport and outbound flights, Swiss travel retail research agency m1nd-set reports on the top destinations likely to be affected by the closure.
Drawing on data from its Business 1ntelligence Service (B1S), which sources actual and forecast traffic information from IATA’s comprehensive traffic database, m1nd-set states that Thailand will be the most affected destination market, by quite a long margin. Based on the past 12 months traffic data and taking only international flights into account, Thailand accounts for 33% of the circa 1.4 million outbound flights from Wuhan. Japan follows with 12%; Malaysia accounts for 10% of final destination international traffic from Wuhan, Singapore 9%, Hong Kong 8% and Indonesia 7%.
Taiwan and South Korea both account for 6% of international traffic from Wuhan. In terms of city destinations, the top final destination for Wuhan origin traffic is Bangkok, where both international airports account for 21% of international traffic from Wuhan. Singapore follows with 9% of traffic, then Hong Kong with 7%. Narita and Seoul both account for 6% each and Denpasar and Phuket both receive around 5% of Wuhan origin traffic. China Southern Airlines is the leading airline operating from Wuhan, accounting for 34% of outbound international traffic, followed by Thai AirAsia with 12% and Cathay Dragon with 7%.
With Chinese travelers being among the top nationalities for shopping in duty free shops when travelling internationally, spend at the destination airports will inevitably be affected. Over 50% of Chinese shop at airports, which is more than double the global average. The category that will be most affected by the situation, favored by Chinese international travelers when shopping in Duty Free stores, is the beauty category which accounts for 60% of the share of the Chinese shopper’s wallet when travelling. Alcohol and fashion & accessories are the next most popular categories among the Chinese.
m1nd-set owner and CEO Peter Mohn said: “A number of clients have expressed deep concern and want to understand the overall impact the virus will have on the business. Our traffic analysis tool enables us to identify all affected destinations, not only the direct destinations but also the final destinations as many passengers from Wuhan transit at a regional hub airport to reach their final destination. We can see that of the 56 airlines which operate out of Wuhan, they serve 450 direct destinations and 1055 final destinations. The impact of the coronavirus will inevitably be felt well beyond Wuhan’s direct connection airports.”
