The year started off on the wrong foot for China and the World as whole, after authorities announced that there was an outbreak of the deadly coronavirus. Since then, thousands have been infected, with hundreds succumbing to the deadly virus.
China has suffered the largest blow of the epidemic. In addition to loss of lives, its economy has suffered major losses that may takes years to recover. Countries around the globe, including its own island Macau, have imposed travel bans to the country, with trade between China and the outside world been severely severed.
According to news by CalvinAyre.com and other outlets as well, the cruise industry is one of the industries that is feeling a pinch of the outbreak. This is especially economically since the travelers have been cancelling their trips. As one of the most affected companies, a report by GGRsia indicates that Genting Hong Kong, which operates Genting Cruise Lines, has acknowledged that the ongoing epidemic is having detrimental effects on its usual business.
During its filing with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on Friday, the company said that though the ultimate effects of the epidemic on the country are still under evaluation, the company has put in place efforts to try and lessen the impact of the epidemic on itself.
Not only has the company cancelled trips to high risk areas, it has also cut back on the salaries paid to some of the top executives. Well, of cause this action hasn’t gone down well with other low ranking workers as they speculate they’ll be next in the line.
Yesterday, Genting Dream, one of the company’s casino cruise, announced that it had decided to stop all departures from Singapore. The move is in an effort to try and curb the spread of the virus as well as a result of travel restrictions being imposed by many countries. The voyage will resume its normal activities on March 27, if there are no further complications.
Besides, any ship that had planned to make a stopover in Taiwan will not do so until further notice. President of the Dream Cruises, Michael Goh, added that customers affected by the cancelled trips will be given an option of either postponing their cruise to a future date or cancelling altogether in exchange for a full refund.
Trips by Genting Dream have not been the only thing affected by the epidemic in the company. Senior staff officials are also feeling a pinch of the outbreak. Due to the reduced revenue caused by cut back in customers as well as refunds and cancelled trips, Genting Cruise Lines has decided to cut the salaries of some senior employees by 30% to 50%.
The company assures that the move is only temporary and that it has made the decision so as to ensure that a temporary setback does not turn into a permanent nightmare. Genting Cruise Lines is confident about the future and in the Asian cruise market, where it has been in business for the past 26 years.
