Beijing, June 12: The outbreak of SARS epidemic has devastated China's tourism, hotel and restaurant industries and the once-thriving Indian restaurants are now reeling under the heavy financial burden with customers shunning the packed food outlets nationwide. The outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) has dealt a severe blow to China's tourism sector, especially that of the capital city, Beijing, which is the worst-hit city in the world from SARS, industry sources told.
Statistics from China National Tourism Administration (CNTA) show that the inflow of foreign tourists to China dipped by 30 per cent to 5.649 million in April this year when compared with the same month of last year.
The figures for the month of May could be even worse since the World Health Organisation (WHO) had issued a travel warning on many Chinese cities, including the capital city Beijing, the sources said.
The number of stay-over foreign tourists was only 1.82 million for April, a drop of 42 per cent as compared with the same month last year.
Official statistics show that Beijing's tertiary industry was seriously hit by the SARS epidemic, with its added value increasing a poor 0.1 per cent, 10.4 percentage points down from the previous month.
Bureau Report