I’m shocked.
That’s what Sunweb’s country director in Scandinavia Deniz Jensen says.
His resignation comes after sales of travel at Sunweb have dropped significantly.
The global spread of coronavirus means that many Danes are now more reluctant to book a holiday.
I haven’t seen anything like it. In my 25 years in the business, I have never seen such a significant drop in sales in such a short time. Yesterday and today have been absolutely horrible.
We are now selling half as many trips, compared to what we expected, says Deniz Jensen.
We don’t sell what we have to
The same message comes from the travel company Papuga in Brørup between Kolding and Esbjerg.
There has been a lot of media coverage of this. And the sales are really quiet, says owner Carsten Papuga.
It has all stopped just now; we don’t sell what we have to.
The company sells both bus and air travel, and usually many travel-friendly Danes call at this time to book a trip south later in the year. But not at this time.
Normally we would be busy at this time of year. Now we get all the orders for the upcoming season. We should be wildly busy right now. But we have not, says Carsten Papuga.
Halving sales
It was at the beginning of the week that the Italians had to turn up the emergency response after an increase in the number of coronavirus infected. Especially in northern Italy.
The night before Thursday, the first Dane was tested positive for coronavirus after staying in Italy.
And it was especially yesterday that Bravo Tours saw a serious decline in bookings.
On Tuesday, we saw a decline in sales of between 15 and 18 percent, says Bravo Tours CEO Peder Hornshøj.
Yesterday we saw a 40 percent decline compared to the same day last week. We usually sell between 500 and 600 trips on such a day. But yesterday we were down to selling about 350 trips.
Spies: People are worried
At Spies, which is one of Denmark’s largest tour operators, you also feel the fear of coronavirus play into.
We sell fewer trips. That’s because people are concerned, says Spies Lisbeth Nedergaard, communications manager.
I would like to say that we sell 25-30 percent fewer trips right now than we normally do.
The companies that primarily send business customers into the world by air are also experiencing a falling demand.
Top Travel is located in Haderslev, a good example of this.
Sales are in a downward direction as a result of the corona virus, confirms CFO of Top Travel Karsten Frandsen.
National Board of Health: Read travel guides
At the National Board of Health, however, a lot of effort is required.
The Board writes on its website that if the necessary precautions are taken before and during the trip, there is generally a low risk of new corona infection when traveling abroad, but you should always pay extra attention in countries and areas with new corona outbreaks.
“When planning your trip, we always recommend reading the Ministry of Foreign Affairs travel guides, which are updated regularly,” says Søren Brostrøm, director of the National Board of Health.
‘We do not arrange a trip if it is dangerous’
This is the case with the travel companies.
We see no reason why you should book your summer vacation. Nor does the Foreign Ministry. We lean on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs travel guides, says communications manager at Spies Lisbeth Nedergaard.
The same message comes from the CEO of Bravo Tours Peder Hornshøj.
We make trips to countries that are safe to travel in. We follow the Ministry of Foreign Affairs travel guides.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs shows the places where it is dangerous to travel, and we, as a tour operator, do not want to make trips to, says Peder Hornshøj.
Facts about coronavirus
• Coronavirus is a family of viruses that can cause mild colds, but also cause serious respiratory tract infections.
• The new virus is officially called SARS-CoV-2, but is still called the coronavirus in the media.
• The disease that the virus causes is called COVID-19 (Corona Virus Disease 2019).
• The first cases were found in the Wuhan metropolis of Hubei Province in eastern China in December 2019.
• 80 percent of cases cause mild symptoms that do not require hospitalization.
• 15 percent must be hospitalized.
• 5 percent are admitted to the intensive care unit.
• Mortality is about two percent.
• Severe illness is seen primarily in the elderly and debilitated with chronic diseases.
• Sources: State Serum Institute and National Board of Health
Source: www.dr.dk
