Tourist Industry: Coronavirus concerns, anxiety send travel industry into a spiral - by Curtis Tate, Dawn Gilbertson and Morgan Hines

A government warning not to board a cruise ship or long flight if you're frail. Convention and event cancellations from coast to coast. Global travel warnings.

The travel and tourism industry has taken hit after hit since the coronavirus outbreak began in January. It's still early for concrete data, but economists and industry executives fear 9/11- or recession-like repercussions. Travel demand plummeted, then and was slow to recover.

"Unfortunately, they're on the front lines on the effect of this virus. They're getting pummeled,'' said Mark Zandi, chief economist for Moody's Analytics.

He said the travel and tourism impact from coronavirus could be greater than the fallout from 9/11, or the 2003 SARS outbreak, because of the global nature of the crisis.

"Global travel is effectively shutting down,'' he said. "It's going to take a while to get it back up and running again. This is going to be a very tough year for the travel and tourism industry.''

The International Air Transport Association, which represents global airlines, last week boosted its estimates of the global financial hit from COVID-19 from $29.3 billion to between $63 billion and $113 billion as the bookings falloff has spread beyond Asia.

That would put airlines in their most precarious position since after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. In the U.S. alone, the travel industry lost $40 billion from 2001 to 2005.

 Read more at: Coronavirus concerns, anxiety send travel industry into a spiral

USA - Economic Chaos: Dow Jones Today, Stocks Retreat: Cruise Lines, Airlines, Oil Prices Under Pressure; Gilead Sciences, Regeneron Rise| Investor's Business Daily

Stocks returned to their early lows Wednesday, as the market retreated following Tuesday's volatile rebound. Chemicals maker Dow (DOW) was among the hardest hit on the Dow Jones today, after providing a coronavirus update to its financials. Airlines were under presure after a series of analyst downgrades due to Covid-19 impact. Biotechs posted some of the morning's few gains, with Gilead Sciences (GILD) staking out an early lead.

Marriott International (MAR) tumbled 7.8%, the worst loss among Nasdaq 100 stocks.  Airline stocks retreated from Tuesday's gains, with American Airlines Group (AAL) falling 6.7% and United Airlines Holdings (UAL) down 6.8% and also near the bottom of the Nasdaq 100. Both stocks received analyst downgrades, and Goldman trimmed its forecast for passenger air traffic by 7% for 2020, due to coronavirus impact.

Gilead Sciences posted a lonely gain among Nasdaq 100 stocks, up almost 2%.

Oil names slipped to the bottom of the S&P 500, with producers Noble (NBL), Apache (APA) and Occidental Petroleum (OXY) all down more than 12%. Coronavirus-stricken cruise lines were also steering back toward lows. Royal Caribbean Cruises (RCL) tumbled 6.2%. Carnival (CCL) took a 6.1% dive.

Read more at: Dow Jones Today, Stocks Retreat: Cruise Lines, Airlines, Oil Prices Under Pressure; Gilead Sciences, Regeneron Rise| Investor's Business Daily

The Netherlands: Holland America Line Commemorates Its 140th Anniversary At Keukenhof Gardens In The Netherlands

Keukenhof and Holland America Line celebrate anniversary

In celebration of its 140th anniversary, an official christening of the new Holland America Line "Signature" tulip took place in the Netherlands last month at the world-famous Keukenhof Gardens. President and CEO of Holland America Line Stein Kruse participated in the ceremony along with the President of the Board of Directors of Keukenhof Walter Jansen and Master Grower Jan Pennings.

A white-petal variety with delicate fringed petals was chosen to honor the company that was founded at Rotterdam, the Netherlands, April 18, 1873, as a trans-Atlantic cargo and passenger shipping company. 

Today the company's fleet of 15 premium cruise ships sails more than 500 cruises on all seven continents.

"Holland America Line has a deep connection to the Netherlands, and to have a tulip named especially for our company is a true honor," said Stein Kruse, president and CEO of Holland America Line. "I can't imagine a more appropriate way to celebrate our 140th anniversary than to christen our tulip in the world's most beautiful and famous gardens." 

In a ceremony last year, Holland America Line "Signature" tulip bulbs were handed over from the grower near the windmill at Keukenhof that Holland America donated in 1957. In December, bulbs were planted at the cruise line's Seattle headquarters and its Southampton, England, office. In addition to collaborating with the gardens to develop the tulip, Holland America Line also participated in the annual Bloemencorso Bollenstreek flower parade on April 19 and 20. The line last participated in the parade in 1948 when the company entered a 35-foot flower float modeled on s.s. Westerdam that was awarded first place. 

Known as the Garden of Europe, Keukenhof is the world's largest flower garden, located in Lisse, the Netherlands. Approximately 7 million flower bulbs of 1,600 varieties are planted annually at the park. The Keukenhof is only open for two months each year, from March 21 through May 20, and attracts more than 800,000 visitors from around the world. For more information visit: http://www.keukenhof.nl.

EU-Digest