Coronavirus infections are widespread in Italy. Measures imposed by the government to contain the outbreak have had dire consequences for the tourism industry in some regions.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/R. Kaufhold
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Joachim Nischler runs Lindenhof, a hotel in the small tourist resort of Naturns in northern Italy's autonomous, largely German-speaking South Tyrol province. He is a fan of the great outdoors, loves hiking and mountain biking, and is a certified road bike guide. Because of the coronavirus outbreak, he has been forced to temporarily shut his hotel. So, by the look of things, he'll have plenty of time to pursue his hobbies these next few weeks. Under more typical circumstance, he said, 50 to 60 bookings are made in the average day. Now, he said, "we're struggling to keep up with our fixed costs."
On Monday, the HGV association of hoteliers and restaurateurs released a statement announcing that South Tyrol's ski season has been called off because of the coronavirus. Beginning Wednesday, the region's hotels and cable car connections will be shut down until April 3.
Nischler said he hoped the virus would be contained by tourist season begins in earnestImage: Privat
On March 6, Germany's Robert Koch Institute, a governmental public health agency, declared South Tyrol a coronavirus risk area. Nischler fears that this will have grave consequences for the region's economy. "People employed in the tourist industry will lose their jobs and be the first to be hit," he said. "Suppliers and handicraft businesses will be hit because they'll get no more orders," he added. The lack of personal income will have effects on the retail sector, he said. All this, he said, will be exacerbated when tourists stop visiting.
Italy has implemented increasingly strict measures to get the coronavirus outbreak under control. On Tuesday, more than 9,000 infections and over 460 virus-related deaths had been reported in the country. In the number of deaths, Italy is second only to China, where the virus was first identified in December.
Prime Minster Giuseppe Conte has declared the outbreak a national emergency. On Monday, he told the daily newspaper La Repubblica that "we will use all human and economic resources we have to get out of this crisis." Conte is asking the European Union to suspend strict borrowing rules so that Italy's economy can weather the outbreak.
On March 4, Italian authorities ordered all universities and schools be shut until mid-March. Then, large swaths of the country's north were placed under quarantine. Now, these restrictions have been expanded to the entire country. All universities and schools will remain shut until early April. Cinemas, theaters, museums and sports clubs must keep their doors shut, and street protests have been banned. Anyone who violates these strict measures risks a jail term of up to three months and a €260 ($300) fine.
Maintaining a distance
Daniela Zadra, who heads the Tourist Office in the South Tyrol city of Meran, said the measures would have a direct impact on everyday life in the region. "Bar owners and restaurateurs are now obliged to move tables apart so that guests are separated by at least 1 meter (3.3 feet) from each other," she told DW. That means it's no longer possible to have an espresso at the bar, as is so common in Italy. She said companies were calling off meetings and relying on phone calls and emails instead.
Nischler said he had not seen residents of Naturn engaged in the panicked shopping and hoarding of supplies that has occurred in other affected areas around the world. He said, however, that one guest was so scared of contracting the virus that she would not even come to the hotel reception, let alone have dinner with other guests. "We left the evening meal outside her room," he said, "then called her by phone to make sure we'd have no direct contact."
Despite the effects on his business, Nischler said he approved of the measures imposed by Italy's federal government. Until Easter, when the main tourist season begins, he said, it's time to "defeat this virus and break the chain of infection."
The Bayreuth Festival canceled
Concerts, exhibitions and festivals worldwide have been called off due to the corona crisis. Now the Bayreuth Festival 2020 has been canceled as well.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/D. Karmann
All quiet on the Wagnerian front
An older audience packed in close quarters in a sweltering theater: for virus transmission, a horrific scenario. The Bayreuth Festival 2020 has been called off, for the first time in its 144-year history due to an epidemic. Rehearsals for the new production of the opera cycle "The Ring of the Nibelung" were to begin on April 1 - but now, the "Ring" can only premiere in 2022 at the earliest.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/D. Karmann
Berlin's major events
A day after Berlin announced that performances in major state-owned venues were to be canceled until April 19, city authorities have banned all events with more than 1,000 participants as well. "The coronavirus continues to spread. In such a phase, public life must be restricted," Berlin's local Health Minister Dilek Kalayci said.
Image: picture-alliance/imageBROKER/P. Seyfferth
Madonna and other concerts
Many major concerts have been canceled, including Madonna's last two dates of her "Madame X" tour in Paris. France has banned on Sunday public gatherings of more than 1,000 people. The Paris Opera has also canceled its performances.
Image: Getty Images/M. Campanella
St. Patrick's Day in Ireland
All Irish St. Patrick's Day parades, including Dublin's main celebration that draws around
500,000 revelers from all over the world each year, are canceled because of fears over the spread of COVID-19, state broadcaster RTE reported on Monday. Ireland's famous March 17 parades were also previously canceled in 2001 during an outbreak of foot and mouth disease.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/P. Morrison
Vatican museums
With quarantine measures in place in northern Italy, soccer matches occurring without spectators, and Italian Prime Minister Guiseppe Conte's order to close museums, theaters and cinemas, it should come as no surprise that the Vatican has closed the doors to its museums, including the Sistine Chapel (above), until probably April 3. In the Vatican itself, five people are currently in quarantine.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/S. Stache
South by Southwest (SXSW)
This annual music, film and tech festival held in Austin, Texas, usually attracts more than 400,000 visitors. But less than a week before its March 12, 2020 start date, organizers decided to cancel in a bid to prevent the spreading of the coronavirus. There's a silver lining though: it may only be postponed and not canceled altogether.
The International Film Academy has announced that it would be postponing its awards ceremony, also known as Bollywood's Oscars, due to fears over the coronavirus outbreak. According to official numbers, India has been until now relatively unscathed by the epidemic. Actor Shah Rukh Khan (photo) was one the stars expected at the event planned for March 27; a new date has not been decided yet.
Image: AFP/Getty Images/S. Jaiswal
'No Time to Die'
James Bond perhaps has a little more time on his hands than the title of the upcoming film in the franchise suggests: "No Time to Die" producers have decided to push back the release of the movie to November. Daniel Craig's last outing as 007 was initially planned for April. It's the first Hollywood blockbuster to shift its release schedule in reaction to the coronavirus outbreak.
Image: Imago Images/Zuma Press/MGM
Venice Architecture Biennale
The start of the world's most prestigious architecture biennale has also been delayed. Instead of opening in May, it will run from August 29 to November 29 — three months later than planned. The theme of the event takes on a new meaning amid current developments: "How do we live together?"
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London Book Fair
Due to take place March 10-12, the book fair was canceled "with reluctance," said organizers, after several major publishers such as HarperCollins and Penguin Random House pulled out of the event to avoid exposing their staff to the virus. The London Book Fair usually draws more than 25,000 authors and book industry insiders.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/C. De Souza
Musikmesse Frankfurt
Europe's biggest trade fair for the music industry also announced that it was postponing the event, which was set to celebrate its 40th anniversary on April 2-4. While it was deemed to be "the only responsible and right decision to take," the cancellation is bound to affect many small businesses in the music industry, said Christian Höppner, secretary general of the German Music Council.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/F. Sommer
Leipzig Book Fair
Change of plans for book fans: The Leipzig Book Fair, scheduled to be held March 12-15, was canceled due to the spread of the new coronavirus, a spokesperson for the fair announced on March 3. The second-largest book fair in Germany expected to draw 2,500 exhibitors from 51 countries.
Image: Stiftung Buchkunst/Carolin Blöink
ITB Travel Trade Show Berlin
Preparations for the world's largest travel fair were already in full swing when the organizers canceled it at the last minute. Due to the ongoing virus threat, participants to the Berlin fair had to prove they had not been to one of the defined risk areas. With 170,000 visitors from all over the world, this proved to be an impossible task and the fair couldn't open on March 4 as planned.
Image: Imago/V. Hohlfeld
Milan Design Week
Each April, thousands of design professionals, artists and companies visit Milan to check out the latest in furniture and interior design. This year, however, organizers have announced it will be moved to June due to the COVID-19 outbreak. Milan is the capital of the Lombardy region, which has seen the lion's share of Italian coronivirus cases. Some airlines have even suspended their flights.
Image: Phillip K. Smith
La Scala opera house
There is perhaps no venue more symbolic of Italy's rich operatic tradition than the La Scala opera house in Milan. Now, its seats will remain empty until March 8. Italy's Prime Minister called for the suspension of cultural events and the venue is sticking to the rules. At the time of writing, Italy has more cases of the new coronavirus than any country outside of Asia.
Image: AP
K-pop concerts
The reigning K-pop boy band BTS does big business with each concert, but in the wake of the virus in South Korea, the group canceled four April dates at the Seoul Olympic Stadium, which seats 69,950 people. "It's impossible to predict the scale of the outbreak," said the group's management. On Tuesday, cases in South Korea reached 5,100 with the majority of infections in the city of Daegu.
Image: Facebook/BTS Official
'Mission Impossible'
No, we aren't describing the task of containing the new coronavirus, but rather the new movie starring Tom Cruise which was supposed to have a three-week shoot in Venice. The film has been postponed, movie studio Paramount Pictures said Monday. Venice's cultural events have been hard hit by the outbreak. The final two days of lagoon city's annual Carnival festival were also canceled.
On February 28, the Swiss government imposed a ban on events of more than 1,000 people until March 15, making it the first European country to do so as a preemptive measure to fight against the spread of the illness. As a result, many concerts and events were called off, including concerts by Carlos Santana (pictured) and Alice Cooper at the 15,000-person Hellenstadion in Zürich.
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The Hamburg Ballet
The Hamburg Ballet John Neumeier canceled guest performances in Macau and Singapore due to the coronavirus outbreak. On the program were "The Lady of the Camellias," which tells the story of a famous Parisian courtesan and "Nijinsky." Whether the tour will take place at another point in time is still in the air. In spring 2021 the Hamburg Ballet plans to tour in Japan.
