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COVID-19 is an infectious disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (sars-cov-2). Coronavirus is a large viral family that is known to cause severe diseases such as colds, Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS). The new coronavirus is a new strain of coronavirus that has never been found in the human body before.

The virus is mainly transmitted through oral and nasal secretions. The time from infection to symptom onset is usually 1 to 14 days. The common signs of people infected with coronavirus include respiratory symptoms, fever, cough, shortness of breath, and dyspnea. In more serious cases, the infection can lead to pneumonia, severe acute respiratory syndrome, renal failure, and even death. Since the end of 2019, the disease has spread all over the world, leading to a continuous pandemic.

There is no specific treatment for diseases caused by New Coronavirus. However, many symptoms can be treated, so they need to be treated according to the clinical situation of patients. In addition, supplementary care for infected people may be very effective. Preventive measures include frequent hand washing, keeping social distance, indoor ventilation, covering your mouth and nose when coughing, and avoiding touching your face with unwashed hands. Wearing masks in public places can effectively reduce the risk of transmission.

The outbreak of COVID-19 poses a serious threat to human life and health. It also has a profound impact on the present and future of many sectors of society, especially for aviation, tourism, catering, film and television, education, and other aggregated industries and institutions.

COVID-19 is still continuing. The author has made a summary of the impact of COVID-19 on some of the official institutions in China in terms of politics, law, and economics through careful observation and collection of relevant information on the surrounding environment.

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2.1 COVID-19's impact on Aviation Institutions

COVID-19 is coming fiercely, which has had a certain impact on all walks of life around the world, especially on aviation institutions. Because almost all international flights were cut off during the whole epidemic period, a large number of airlines were once faced with economic collapse. However, some airlines adjusted relevant strategic planning in time during the epidemic and successfully passed the dangerous period.

2.1.1 Political, legal, and economic impact of COVID-19 on Aviation Institutions

In order to stop the accelerated spread of COVID-19, China has worked together to combat the epidemic and actively taken prevention and control measures such as reducing travel, home isolation, and extending the Spring Festival holiday.

The epidemic has led to a sharp reduction in travel demand. After restricting the flow of people has become an important measure for epidemic prevention and control, the civil aviation industry has been greatly affected: the number of flights has decreased, the seating rate has decreased, air tickets have also begun to be greatly discounted, and the civil aviation industry has suffered huge economic losses. The decline of passenger throughput during the epidemic not only has a negative impact on airport aviation revenue but also has an impact on airport non-aviation revenue. Due to the high proportion of fixed expenditure in the aviation industry, it still needs to bear various expenses such as labor cost, depreciation of fixed assets, and leasing during the epidemic period. The sharp decline in passenger flow has further reduced the consumption of retail catering in the "terminal building", and the overall profitability of the airport has declined. According to the preliminary estimate of the international civil aviation organization, the total operating revenue of global airlines may be reduced by $4 billion to $5 billion under the impact of the epidemic. In the first quarter of 2020, the total number of passengers in China will be reduced by 39% to 41%, equivalent to a reduction of 16.4 million to 19.6 million passengers. This means that the total operating revenue of global airlines may be reduced by $4 billion to $5 billion.

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2.1.2 Specific examples of COVID-19's impact on Aviation Institutions

For example, the observer network inquired about the third-party platform and found that Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen are popular routes, with 10% to 20% of air tickets everywhere. In addition, the lowest prices of one-way tickets from Shanghai to Sanya and from Shanghai to Chengdu are around 100 yuan, and the discount is as low as less than 10%. On March 3, 2020, China Southern Airlines Group held a "publicity and implementation meeting for coping with extreme business difficulties" and several photos were circulated on the Internet. The largest aviation company in Asia fell into the situation of "extreme business difficulties".

On February 6, 2020, the director of the transportation department of the Civil Aviation Administration said at a press conference that from the situation of the recent week, airlines have greatly reduced flights, the total number of flights is only half that of last year, the passenger seat rate is less than 45%, and the passenger seat rate in the same period last year reached 90%. On March 2, 2020, the visiting professor of China Civil Aviation Management Cadre College once said that the revenue loss of China Civil Aviation reached nearly 37 billion in February 2020, and the industry is expected to lose about 35 billion in March 2020. If the epidemic extends further, the total loss of industry revenue may be close to 100 billion.

However, some airlines adjusted relevant strategic plans in time during the epidemic period and successfully passed the dangerous period. Taking the websites of China Eastern Airlines and China Southern Airlines as examples, the following focuses on the impact of COVID-19 on the two airlines in terms of policies and the specific measures taken by the two airlines to save their own enterprises.

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LE COVID-19 affecte le trafic de passagers en janvier (pdf)

فيروس كورونا يؤثر سلباً على حركة المسافرين في يناير (pdf)

Geneva - The International Air Transport Association (IATA) announced global passenger traffic data for January 2020 showing that demand (measured in total revenue passenger kilometers or RPKs) climbed 2.4% compared to January 2019. This was down from 4.6% year-over-year growth for the prior month and is the lowest monthly increase since April 2010, at the time of the volcanic ash cloud crisis in Europe that led to massive airspace closures and flight cancellations. January capacity (available seat kilometers or ASKs) increased by 1.7%. Load factor climbed 0.6 percentage point to 80.3%.

"January was just the tip of the iceberg in terms of the traffic impacts we are seeing owing to the COVID-19 outbreak, given that major travel restrictions in China did not begin until 23 January. Nevertheless, it was still enough to cause our slowest traffic growth in nearly a decade," said Alexandre de Juniac, IATA's Director General and CEO.

1-% of Industry RPKs in 2019 2-Year-on-year chnage in load factor 3-Load factor level

International Passenger Markets

January international passenger demand rose 2.5% compared to January 2019, down from 3.7% growth the previous month. With the exception of Latin America, all regions recorded increases, led by airlines in Africa and the Middle East that saw minimal impact from the COVID-19 outbreak in January. Capacity climbed 0.9%, and load factor rose 1.2 percentage points to 81.1%.

Asia-Pacific airlines' January traffic climbed 2.5% compared to the year-ago period, which was the slowest outcome since early 2013 and a decline from the 3.9% increase in December. Softer GDP growth in several of the region's key economies was compounded by COVID-19 impacts on the international China market. Capacity rose 3.0% and load factor slid 0.4 percentage point to 81.6%.

European carriers saw January demand climb just 1.6% year-to-year, down from 2.7% in December. Results were impacted by slumping GDP growth in leading economies during the 2019 fourth quarter plus flight cancellations related to COVID-19 in late January. Capacity fell 1.0%, and load factor lifted 2.1 percentage points to 82.7%.

Middle Eastern airlines posted a 5.4% traffic increase in January, the fourth consecutive month of solid demand growth, reflecting strong performance from larger Europe-Middle East and Middle East-Asia routes, which were not significantly impacted by route cancellations related to COVID-19 at that time. Capacity increased just 0.5%, with load factor jumping 3.6 percentage points to 78.3%.

North American carriers' international demand rose 2.9% compared to January a year ago, which represented a slowdown from the 5.2% growth recorded in December, although there were no significant flight cancellations to Asia in January. Capacity climbed 1.6%, and load factor grew by 1.0 percentage point to 81.7%.

Latin American airlines experienced a 3.7% demand drop in January compared to the same month last year, which was a further deterioration compared to a 1.3% decline in December. Traffic for Latin American carriers has now been particularly weak for four consecutive months, reflecting continued social unrest and economic difficulties in a number of countries in the region unrelated to COVID-19. Capacity fell 4.0% and load factor edged up 0.2 percentage point to 82.7%.

African airlines' traffic climbed 5.3% in January, up slightly from 5.1% growth in December. Capacity rose 5.7%, however, and load factor slipped 0.3 percentage point to 70.5%.

Domestic Passenger Markets

Demand for domestic travel climbed 2.3% in January compared to January 2019, as strong growth in the US helped mitigate the impact from a steep decline in China's domestic traffic. Capacity rose 3.0% and load factor dipped 0.5 percentage point to 78.9%.

1-% of Industry RPKs in 2019 2-Year-on-year chnage in load factor 3-Load factor level

Chinese airlines' domestic traffic fell 6.8% in January, reflecting the impact of flight cancellations and travel restrictions related to COVID-19. China's Ministry of Transport reported an 80% annual fall in volumes in late January and early February. Capacity slipped 0.2% and passenger load factor plunged 5.4 percentage points to 76.7%.

US airlines saw domestic traffic climb 7.5% in January. Although this was down from 10.1% growth in December, it represented another strong month of demand growth reflecting supportive business confidence and domestic economic outcomes at the time. Capacity rose 4.9% and load factor climbed 1.9 percentage points to 81.1%.

The Bottom Line

"The COVID-19 outbreak is a global crisis that is testing the resilience not only of the airline industry but of the global economy. Airlines are experiencing double-digit declines in demand, and on many routes traffic has collapsed. Aircraft are being parked and employees are being asked to take unpaid leave. In this emergency, governments need to consider the maintenance of air transport links in their response. Suspension of the 80/20 slot use rule, and relief on airport fees at airports where demand has disappeared are two important steps that can help ensure that airlines are positioned to provide support during the crisis and eventually in the recovery," said de Juniac.

Read the full report for January 2020 (pdf)
For more information, please contact:
Corporate Communications

Tel: +41 22 770 2967

Email: corpcomms@iata.org
Notes for Editors:

IATA (International Air Transport Association) represents some 290 airlines comprising 82% of global air traffic.

You can follow us at https://twitter.com/iata for announcements, policy positions, and other useful industry information.

All figures are provisional and represent total reporting at time of publication plus estimates for missing data. Historic figures are subject to revision.

Domestic RPKs accounted for about 36% of the total market. It is most important for North American airlines as it is about 66% of their operations.

Explanation of measurement terms:

RPK: Revenue Passenger Kilometers measures actual passenger traffic

ASK: Available Seat Kilometers measures available passenger capacity

PLF: Passenger Load Factor is % of ASKs used.

IATA statistics cover international and domestic scheduled air traffic for IATA member and non-member airlines.

Total passenger traffic market shares by region of carriers in terms of RPK are: Asia-Pacific 34.7%, Europe 26.8%, North America 22.2%, Middle East 9.0%, Latin America 5.1%, and Africa 2.1%.

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LE COVID-19 affecte le trafic de passagers en janvier (pdf) فيروس كورونا يؤثر سلباً على حركة المسافرين في يناير (pdf) Geneva - The International Air Transport Association (IATA) announced global passenger traffic data for January 2020 showing that demand (measured in total revenue passenger kilometers or RPKs) climbed 2.4% compared to January 2019.

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1) Introduction to China Southern Airlines Group Co., Ltd

Headquartered in Guangzhou, China Southern Airlines is the airline with the largest number of transport aircraft, the most developed route network, and the largest annual passenger volume in China. In 2021, affected by the epidemic, China Southern Airlines ranked fourth in the loss list.

China Southern Airlines logo

Kapok is a unique flower in southern China. In the eyes of people in southern China, kapok symbolizes a noble personality. China Southern Airlines Group Co., Ltd. chose kapok as the main content of the aviation logo, which expresses that China Southern Airlines Group Co., Ltd. has always provided perfect air transportation services for passengers and cargo owners with a frank and enthusiastic attitude.

China Southern Airlines uniform

The uniform adopts two basic colors: blue and pink.

Epidemic prevention and control measures of China Southern Airlines

Achieve "zero infection" for all international and domestic passengers when boarding.

Based on the work experience of "zero infection", all employees continue to pay close attention to various prevention and control measures, strictly clean and disinfect the aircraft, do a good job in the self-protection and cabin service management of on-board personnel, take preventive measures and block the transmission channel of the epidemic in the cabin. Carry out passenger epidemic prevention work in strict accordance with the requirements, such as passenger real name ticket purchase, health code inspection, rapid temperature measurement, passenger flow guidance, wearing masks, hand disinfection, taking seats, etc.

A leading group for the operation guarantee of the Spring Festival transportation was established.

During the Spring Festival, in order to reduce the impact of bad weather such as rain, snow, and freezing on flight operation support, China Southern Airlines has specially established a spring festival operation support leading group to hold flight decision-making coordination meetings every day, timely release important weather information and bad weather early warning, and send more personnel on duty to ensure smooth travel of passengers during the Spring Festival.

Develop China Southern Airlines app to check-in and select seats online in advance.

In order to provide passengers with a "non-contact" and convenient boarding experience and avoid crowd gathering, except that some routes have special epidemic prevention requirements, domestic flight passengers of China Southern Airlines can check-in and select seats online in advance through the China Southern Airlines app, and send WeChat applet and SMS before departure. After arriving at the airport, they can use the second-generation ID card to conduct security checks and boarding directly. "One pass" can save counter waiting time and reduce personnel contact. Passengers can check their luggage in zone H, which is convenient and fast.

In 2020, the operating cost of China Southern Airlines was 94.903 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 30.05%.

West China Securities Research Report shows that during the recovery of the epidemic, China Southern Airlines has a strong demand for international freight, which is conducive to hedging the loss of international passenger transport. At present, among the listed airlines, China Southern Airlines has the highest proportion of international freight. In the third quarter of 2020, China Southern Airlines, as the only one of the three major airlines to recover the parent company's net profit within one quarter, made a great contribution to freight transportation.

In order to make the service concept of "affinity and refinement" run through the Spring Festival transportation, realize the normalization of epidemic prevention and control and meet the travel needs of elderly, pregnant women, babies, wheelchairs, and other passenger groups, China Southern Airlines has set up a special passenger service counter at D20 counter of terminal 2 of Guangzhou Baiyun Airport, Provide "Health Code" agent physical examination, manual consultation, and other nursing services for passengers with special needs. If passengers have questions about the health declaration or epidemic prevention requirements at the destination, they can consult the on-site staff of China Southern Airlines at any time.

Reasonably plan travel time.

At present, local airports have taken prevention and control measures such as measuring body temperature and filling out health declaration forms. Since January 28, 2021, China Southern Airlines has adjusted the relevant standards of the VIP lounge, effectively reducing the close contact between people, so as to eliminate the popularity in the cabin and lounge to a certain extent.

China Southern Airlines Group is responsible for comprehensively grasping the whole chain of epidemic prevention and control.

At present, the domestic epidemic has spread to many provinces and cities, and the transmission chain has been continuously extended. The new situation of epidemic prevention and control and the new changes of Delta mutant have brought great pressure to the epidemic prevention and control of China Southern Airlines. China Southern Airlines Group requires all units and departments to fully understand the seriousness of the current epidemic prevention work, re-mobilize and reinvestigate the epidemic prevention work according to the characteristics of multiple links, and further strengthen the epidemic prevention and control measures. China Southern Airlines should further clarify the subject of responsibility and comprehensively do a good job in the whole chain epidemic prevention and control of China Southern Airlines. The outsourcing business of China Southern Airlines shall implement the supervision responsibility, especially strengthen the management of the third-party outsourcing business personnel working in the airport operation area, clarify the management responsibilities, improve the management measures, strengthen supervision and inspection, and spare no effort to do a good job in protection. Employees of China Southern Airlines shall fully grasp the epidemic prevention information, strictly implement the "daily report" system and form an epidemic prevention and control network. Strengthen the training of employees in high-risk positions, strictly implement environmental safety, and earnestly do a good job in on-the-job training and education. Each employee should take their own responsibilities. China Southern Airlines implements closed management for international flight crew and support personnel who have direct contact with international passengers and cargo, strictly implements epidemic prevention requirements, overcomes fluke mentality, and resolutely implements the principle of prevention and control. China Southern Airlines should strengthen self-examination, comprehensively evaluate the risks of the whole epidemic prevention system and rectify problems in time. The responsible units of China Southern Airlines shall strengthen supervision and inspection, and investigate the responsibility of those units that fail to implement the responsibility of epidemic prevention well, have work loopholes, and can not effectively perform their duties according to law.

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official website of china southern airlines

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China Southern Airlines official website provides ticket inquiries, ticket booking, booking tickets online, one-stop ticket inquiries subscription service. Ticket inquiries within most national and international ticket inquiries, ticket booking 100% of the vote.

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2) Introduction to China Eastern Airlines Group Co., Ltd

China Eastern Airlines Group Co., Ltd. is a wholly state-owned company directly under the central government of China.

China Eastern Airlines logo

The new logo continues to use the red and blue brand benchmark colors of the original logo, representing hope, excellence, and passion. It means extensive, understanding and preciseness. It skillfully echoes the enterprise spirit of "passion transcendence, preciseness and efficiency" of China Eastern Airlines, and conveys the wishes of harmony and auspiciousness to passengers. The posture of the flying swallow naturally outlines the initials "CE" of "China East", which also looks like a jumping note, showing China East's awareness of competition and cooperation in promoting brands without borders.

Epidemic prevention and control measures of China Eastern Airlines

Promote light dining cars.

Promote light dining cars and optimize the weight of catering and water to reduce fuel costs.

Preventive disinfection shall be carried out for key international (regional) epidemic flights, and passenger temperature detection and information declaration shall be carried out.

China Eastern Airlines International return flight will measure the temperature of each passenger at the cabin door, focusing on monitoring passengers whose temperature exceeds the standard. If suspected cases or fever passengers are found during the flight, the crew shall notify the customs of the destination airport half an hour before the flight landing in accordance with the requirements of the destination port and the current procedures. At the same time, the right seat in the last three rows of the rear cabin is set as the isolation point of the aircraft in flight. Suspected or feverish passengers should be close to the right window as far as possible. The toilet at the rear of the right side is dedicated to isolation personnel to avoid cross-infection. If suspected cases or fever passengers are found on the flight, simplify the service procedures, arrange special personnel to wear protective articles to serve the suspected or fever passengers, and conduct medical isolation observation for the crew members who contact the suspected or fever passengers in-flight according to the epidemic prevention requirements after the flight.

Do a good job in employee protection.

China Eastern Airlines provides N95 and KN95 masks, gloves, disinfectant wipes, protective clothing, and goggles for the crew and employees in direct contact with passengers in accordance with the standards.

On January 29, 2020, China Eastern Airlines Group issued the "notice on resolutely winning the war of epidemic prevention and control", preparing to send aircraft to transport medical personnel, special equipment, and medical supplies to provide a strong guarantee for epidemic prevention front. China Eastern Airlines has taken adequate measures in passenger protection. China Eastern Airlines took the lead in developing the "cloud declaration" system of passenger health information report, and the "aviation department + local" joint prevention and control mechanism, which effectively improved the passenger transportation efficiency, minimized the possibility of contacting and spreading viruses in paper form, realized electronization, networking, and industry initiatives, and was promoted by Civil Aviation Administration of China in the whole industry. At the same time, China Eastern Airlines has comprehensively strengthened the cleaning, disinfection, and protection of the cabin to cut off the possible route of virus transmission.

China Eastern Airlines provides online health declaration service in app and WeChat official account, so that passengers can quickly fill in health declaration without paper and pen. It has realized the seamless connection with Shanghai Health cloud declaration system, avoided the secondary declaration of passengers, and established the epidemic prevention and control mode of "airline + Airport + city", which has been highly praised by the Civil Aviation Administration and gradually promoted in China. All flights of China Eastern Airlines are equipped with epidemic prevention kits.

In 2020, the investment income of China Eastern Airlines was - 77 million yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 445 million yuan, mainly due to the impact of the epidemic and the decrease in the income of joint ventures. In 2020, the operating cost of China Eastern Airlines was 70.803 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 33.95%. China Eastern Airlines began to resume the national enterprise charter business. With the help of the unique design of air transportation safety and aircraft ventilation system, it also specially launched the service product of "special charter flight and domestic shuttle service" to provide comprehensive travel guarantee. At present, China Eastern Airlines has received more than 80 domestic and foreign flight charter intentions. In 2021, with the gradual recovery of work and production in various regions, China Eastern Airlines has not only launched customized charter flights through market research and orders, but also resumed some routes at home and abroad. By the end of February 2021, China Eastern Airlines had resumed 1050 flights, mainly covering the repair routes from Yunnan, Sichuan and Shaanxi to Shanghai, Zhejiang, Jiangsu and Guangdong. By March 28, 2021, China Eastern Airlines has gradually resumed at the speed of about 100 flights a day, with an average of about 1300 flights a day, accounting for 50% of the original plan. On February 25 and February 26, 2021, as the first batch of international flights resumed by China Eastern Airlines, China Eastern Airlines "Kunming--Yangon" and "Kunming--Mandalay" flights resumed one after another. On February 26, 2021, China Eastern Airlines took solid steps in coordinating "epidemic prevention and control" and "economic and social development", and opened a new journey of market-oriented operation of domestic aircraft. China Eastern Airlines Technology Co., Ltd. redeployed the aircraft maintenance plan with significantly reduced flights to allow regular inspection and major modifications. The regular inspection hours from February to March 2021 increased by more than 80000 hours over the same period last year, a year-on-year increase of 53%. By the end of April 2021, China Eastern Airlines had completed in-depth inspection and modification of 581 passenger aircraft in advance, reserving capacity for subsequent flight production.

China Eastern Airlines organizes special training for middle and senior managers through the combination of online and offline.

China Eastern Airlines has developed more than 400 online courses and organized more than 8 million employees to participate in professional theoretical and business training. In addition, China Eastern Airlines also invited experts and scholars from well-known universities and senior executives of central enterprises to give lectures to continue to strengthen the ability of middle and senior managers to control complex situations, deal with complex situations and deal with complex problems.

Eight special working groups, including China Eastern Airlines epidemic emergency response leading group, office, employee protection group, passenger service group, aircraft protection group, operation decision-making group, information and public opinion group and legal support group, quickly formulated prevention and control work plans, proposed and implemented, strengthened employee physical examination and strengthened coordination with relevant departments, Strengthen the allocation and management of prevention and control materials, strengthen duty management, strengthen employees' safety and health awareness, strengthen policy publicity and information management, and strengthen epidemic situation monitoring, communication and coordination. The company always puts the life safety and health of passengers and employees first, strictly implements the epidemic control and protection regulations of the government and relevant industrial units, implements the national and regional management requirements for routes, and strengthens local health and entry-exit inspection. Quarantine departments and public security departments shall actively do a good job in the ventilation and disinfection of aircraft and ground service places, and cooperate with relevant departments in the work of "safety protection", "entry quarantine" and "epidemic prevention publicity".

China Eastern Airlines always puts people's life safety and health first.

With a high sense of responsibility, mission and urgency, the epidemic prevention work has been regarded as the top priority at this stage, and a "aviation defense line" against the epidemic has been constructed. During the epidemic, China Eastern Airlines made every effort to ensure that medical teams and epidemic prevention materials from all over the country arrived at the front line of epidemic prevention. Since the first medical staff charter flight of the whole civil aviation on New Year's Eve, China Eastern Airlines has outsourced 96 flights to Hubei, transported nearly 9610 medical staff from Shanghai and other places, repatriated 539 overseas Chinese from Thailand, Singapore, Vietnam, Indonesia and other places. It is the largest airline in China's civil aviation transportation volume, accounting for more than 40% of the charter transportation volume of civil aviation medical personnel. China Eastern Airlines actively cooperated with relevant departments and overseas institutions, and successfully completed a series of charter transportation tasks of overseas medical materials by using route network and business outlets all over the world. Nearly 3000 tons of emergency supplies, including medical masks, goggles and protective clothing, have been transported from France, the United States, Australia and other countries in the world through the cabins of all cargo aircraft and passenger aircraft. Since the middle and late February of 2020, China Eastern Airlines has launched customized charter flights for the first time, resumed production and work, and effectively solved the problem of enterprises and migrant workers returning home. By the end of April 2020, China Eastern Airlines had carried out nearly 200 return charter flights, carrying 9470 return employees from 22 provinces such as Henan, Yunnan and Guizhou to return to 19 provinces and cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Zhejiang and Guangdong. China Eastern Airlines' charter flight back home provided a guarantee for employment and poverty alleviation in poor areas. China Eastern Airlines' charter flight back home from Yunnan for the first time carried migrant workers in lincangwa Town, helping the local win the battle of poverty alleviation. As a central enterprise of civil aviation, China Eastern Airlines is a good example company in the whole process of epidemic prevention and control. As of May 20, 2020, China Eastern Airlines has carried out more than 340 epidemic prevention charter flights worldwide, transported more than 23000 medical personnel and more than 10000 tons of medical relief materials. The first "Shenzhen Los Angeles" epidemic prevention transportation flight of China Eastern Airlines was opened. With the rapid spread of the epidemic abroad, China has become the main export source of epidemic prevention materials in the world. China Eastern Airlines has promoted the reform of the logistics industry and established its subsidiary China Eastern Airlines logistics, as the whole process service provider of the logistics supply chain, covering air transportation, land transportation, airport freight station, inspection and distribution, loading and unloading, etc. Under the epidemic situation, many foreign government departments, hospitals and other public institutions need to know how to declare and pass the inspection, and complete a series of relevant procedures. At present, China Eastern Airlines logistics has launched more than 300 international cargo flights per week, more than twice that of the same period last year. The global "cargo transportation" has strongly supported the epidemic prevention work of countries all over the world.

Alt hough the epidemic has brought great impact and heavy losses to the production and operation of China Eastern Airlines, the company still fully focuses on "uninterrupted navigation", earnestly performs its responsibility for the suspension of navigation in some countries, ensures the smooth flow of relevant international routes, and provides the greatest convenience for the exchange of passengers and materials between China and foreign countries.

China Eastern Airlines has sufficient capacity to provide normal travel services for passengers on national and regional routes that have not yet taken measures to prohibit entry. While actively opening up a green channel and comprehensively ensuring the transportation task of epidemic prevention materials, China Eastern Airlines adheres to excellent service quality and provides uninterrupted aviation logistics services for customers all over the world.

China Eastern Airlines carries out physical examination and temperature monitoring for all employees. The crew and ground service staff shall fully wear necessary protective articles, such as masks and gloves.

China Eastern Airlines uses professional cleaning disinfectants to deeply clean and disinfect the aircraft, including those passing through the station and staying on the ground for a short time.

The company implements strict sanitary disinfection and personnel flow management for offices and lounges, and cancels all unnecessary gatherings and visits. China Eastern Airlines detailed the employee care plan, strengthened all-round service management and employee health security, and each unit implemented a strict daily "zero report" management system.

China Eastern Airlines takes the initiative to provide services such as other route changes, ticket changes or refunds in the same region, and publishes ticket service information through official websites at home and abroad, social media and other official channels.

On January 24, 2020, China Eastern Airlines cancelled all inbound and outbound flights from China Eastern Airlines to Wuhan. From January 24, 2020, if passengers apply for voluntary refund, China Eastern Airlines will refund tickets free of charge. Previously, China Eastern Airlines has announced that all front-line medical system personnel who cancel their trip due to epidemic work can change their tickets or refund them free of charge. China Eastern Airlines maintains close contact with superior departments and local governments to fully ensure the transportation of medical materials and personnel. China Eastern Airlines has aircraft and crew in various places, which can transport epidemic prevention materials and medical personnel as needed.

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2.2 COVID-19's impact on Tourism Institutions

2.2.1 The impact of COVID-19 on Tourism Institutions in the political aspect

With the economic development and the improvement of living standards, people's demand for spiritual culture is rising, and tourism has become an indispensable part of people's life. In the face of the sudden epidemic, the Ministry of culture and tourism and other departments have successively issued a series of notices requiring the suspension of tourism products or inter-provincial long-distance passenger transport services. Therefore, the tourism service projects of travel agencies can not be carried out on time, and the tourism industry has entered a cold winter period due to the impact of the epidemic.

Compared with the SARS period, covid-19 is more infectious, has a wider range of transmission, and is more strict in prevention and control than the SARS period. All provinces and cities have implemented regional blockade, traffic control, and suspension of the opening of scenic spots to varying degrees. Most people are actively or passively isolated from home, which has a serious impact on the tourism industry. Many tourism companies in China are facing bankruptcy.

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Thousands TRAPPED in Disneyland Shanghai Lockdown

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2.2.2 The impact of COVID-19 on Tourism Institutions in the legal aspect

During covid-19, it is particularly important to guide the whole society to prevent and control according to law and scientifically, and do a good job in the publicity of the rule of law. During the epidemic period, there are many legal provisions on the epidemic situation. For example, Article 77 of the "law on the prevention and control of infectious diseases" stipulates that if a unit or individual violates the provisions of this law, resulting in the spread and prevalence of infectious diseases and causing damage to the person and property of others, it shall bear civil liability according to law. Article 48 of the "emergency response law" stipulates that after an emergency occurs, the government needs to immediately organize relevant departments to mobilize emergency rescue teams and social forces according to its nature, characteristics, and harm degree, and take emergency disposal measures in accordance with the provisions of this chapter and the provisions of relevant laws, regulations, and rules. "Frontier Health and Quarantine Law", "Public Security Management Punishment Law" and "criminal law" all stipulate epidemic prevention and illegal acts.

In the prevention and control of covid-19, the obligations of units and individuals include:

Article 12 of the law on the prevention and control of infectious diseases stipulates that "all units and individuals within the territory of the people's Republic of China must accept prevention and control measures such as investigation, inspection, sample collection and isolation treatment of infectious diseases by disease prevention and control institutions and medical institutions, and truthfully provide relevant information.", Article 31 stipulates: "when any unit or individual finds patients with infectious diseases or suspected patients with infectious diseases, it shall timely report to the nearby disease prevention and control institutions or medical institutions."

Article 54 of the emergency response law stipulates: "no unit or individual shall fabricate or disseminate false information about the development of emergencies or emergency response work.", Article 56 provides that: "Units that are endangered by natural disasters, accidents, disasters or public health events shall immediately organize their own emergency rescue teams and staff to rescue the victims, evacuate and resettle the threatened personnel, control hazard sources, mark dangerous areas, block dangerous places, take other necessary measures to prevent the expansion of hazards, and report to the local county-level government at the same time, Article 57 stipulates: "citizens in the place where an emergency occurs shall obey the commands and arrangements of the people's government, residents' committee, villagers' committee or their subordinate units, cooperate with the emergency response measures taken by the people's government, actively participate in the emergency rescue work and help maintain social order."

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China's summer tourism has taken a big hit as local authorities ask people to avoid inter-provincial traveling. Following the latest wave of COVID-19 cases, the government has imposed restrictions on travel and shut down tourist spots in cities with medium and high-risk areas.

The country's tourism industry was hoping for a big recovery at this summer holiday, but the spreading Delta variant of the coronavirus has put an end to those hopes. Many travel agencies have lost almost all their bookings for the travel season.

"Ninety percent of our recent orders are gone. We're dealing with a large amount of refunds," said Zhen Hao, president of travel agency Easytour. "Before the (virus) outbreak, we were very confident about the summer season and ready to recover our losses. But now, it's all gone."

Official data shows the first half of 2021 saw only a 60 percent recovery in the number of domestic tourists for the same period in 2019. After a stricken 2020, tourism operators saw this summer holiday as a long-awaited opportunity.

Han Jie, vice president of CYTS AOYOU, one of the major travel agencies in China, told CGTN that summer holidays are normally the longest and most profitable time for the industry.

"Summer holidays are prime time for family travels. And it is the longest travel season for the whole year," Han added, "We've developed so many family tour packages for the summer. Bookings were very hot, especially for places like Tibet, Xinjiang and Hainan."

To recover some of the losses, travel agencies say they have to shift their focus to tours in the city and suburbs, which are less affected by travel curbs but also less profitable.

Since last year, the coronavirus pandemic has folded thousands of travel companies in China. And the surviving ones still have to suffer nearly zero-income whenever domestic cases arise.

Zhen Hao, vice president of Beijing Association of Travel Agencies, feared the industry will lose more companies in the future.

"Some of us have to resort to online sales of our cultural and specialty products. This year has been tough on tourism operators. A lot of us might not be able to hold on," Zhen said. "We really hope the government can provide more subsidies, policies, loans and resources while trying to contain the pandemic."

Some travel agents told CGTN that many of their colleagues have left or are thinking of leaving the industry due to uncertain prospects amid the pandemic. This has left agencies worried that a lack of talent in the near future will create more challenges for the still recovering industry.

(Cover: Visitors wearing masks explore Hefei Science and Technology Museum in east China's Anhui Province, August 5, 2021. /CFP)

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China's tourism industry hit hard as COVID-19 cases surge during summer holiday

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China's summer tourism has taken a big hit as local authorities ask people to avoid inter-provincial traveling. Following the latest wave of COVID-19 cases, the government has imposed restrictions on travel and shut down tourist spots in cities with medium and high-risk areas.

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2.2.3 The impact of COVID-19 on Tourism Institutions in the economic aspect

If there were no epidemic, there would have been a very lively spring festival tourism golden week in 2020 -- according to the previous prediction of major market research institutions, the number of people traveling during the Spring Festival in 2020 will exceed 450 million, an increase of 8% over the Spring Festival in 2019, and will create a consumption scale of about 555 billion yuan. Due to the sudden outbreak of the epidemic, the above-predicted values lost their value in an instant, which can be fully supported by the data of traffic and travel numbers:

(1) Transportation data: according to the data of the Ministry of communications, as of February 18, 2020, the Spring Festival railway will send 210 million passengers in 2020, a year-on-year decrease of 47.3%; 1.21 billion passengers were sent by road, a year-on-year decrease of 50.8%; 16.89 million passengers were sent by waterway, a year-on-year decrease of 58.6%; Civil aviation sent 38.39 million passengers, a year-on-year decrease of 47.5%.

(2) Number of trips during the golden week: during the Spring Festival "Golden Week" (from January 24 to January 30) from New Year's Eve to the sixth day of the lunar new year in 2020, the number of trips throughout the country is only 152 million. In contrast, during the Spring Festival Golden Week in 2019 (from February 4 to February 10), the number of trips in China reached 421 million, especially the gap.

According to statistics, the direct economic loss caused by the suspension of China's tourism industry during the Spring Festival is about 500 billion yuan. The amount of loss caused by the epidemic is about 22% to 25% of the predicted total value before the epidemic, and the amount of loss is about 1.6 trillion to 1.8 trillion yuan, resulting in negative growth of 14% to 18% from a year-on-year increase of 10%.

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Mei Zhang on China's tourism industry post-COVID19

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2.2.4 Specific examples of COVID-19's impact on Tourism Institutions

Due to the impact of the epidemic, most of the originally determined travel itineraries in China had to be canceled. Many tourist attractions were canceled or even closed during the Spring Festival, such as the Forbidden City, the National Library, Jiuzhaigou, the great wall, and so on. In previous years, the temple fair in Beijing during the Spring Festival was beautiful scenery, but this year, such activities were also canceled. The tourism economy of Hainan Island has also been greatly impacted. Take travel agencies as an example, "the business of The Spring Festival Golden Week means the source of income for travel agencies in the first half of the year." Early investment directly collapsed. A large number of refunds of Spring Festival orders have impacted the cash flow of enterprises. In the foreseeable two or three months, consumers' willingness to travel has collapsed, enterprises basically have no income, and the labor, rent, and operating expenses of enterprises are still happening.

For scenic spots, theme parks, hotels, Bed and Breakfast, performing arts, comprehensive resorts, and other destinations, many enterprises have invested a lot in marketing and publicity activities years ago. Now, most local scenic spots and resorts have been closed, and the investment of enterprises has basically drifted. There are also many scene enterprises, such as parent-child paradise, homestay, camp, theme park, performing arts, museum, research, and training institutions, which are directly affected without exception.

Not only has domestic tourism been blocked recently, but there has been a sharp decline, and inbound and outbound tourism has also basically stopped. Since January 29, 2020, many foreign airlines have suspended flights to China. On the evening of January 30, 2020, the World Health Organization announced that covid-19 was listed as a public health emergency of international concern, which almost stopped inbound and outbound tourism in the form of teams, and greatly impacted inbound and outbound tourism in the form of individual tourists.

In addition, tourism stocks closely related to the holiday economy have also become the object of sharp selling by investors, which has a great impact on tourism-listed companies.

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Tourism is not only the most meaningful social activity but also the flavoring agent for people's moods. When the epidemic breaks out and the whole city is closed, everyone can only stay at home and can not resume normal social life for a long time, people's mood will become worse. Tourism around the world has also been greatly affected, and many tourism companies around the world are facing bankruptcy.

However, some tourism companies timely adjusted their relevant strategic planning during the epidemic and successfully passed the dangerous period. Taking the Ctrip tourism website and Qunar tourism website of two famous tourism companies in China as examples, the following focuses on how covid-19 affects the two tourism companies in terms of policy, law, economy, culture, and ethics, as well as the specific measures taken by the two tourism companies to save their own enterprises.

Ctrip

Ctrip is an online ticketing service company, founded in 1999 and headquartered in Shanghai, China. Ctrip has more than 600000 member hotels at home and abroad for reservation. It is a leading hotel reservation service center in China. Ctrip is the largest online travel agency (OTA) in China and one of the largest online travel agencies in the world.

Ctrip group can integrate complex tourism-related information and provide tourism product reservations and services through its advanced mobile app, website, and 24-hour free customer service center to help business and leisure tourism users obtain information and reduce costs.

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Trip.com Official Site‎‎ | Travel Deals and Promotions

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Choose from over 1.2 million hotels in more than 200 countries, 30 million real guest reviews. Book flights to over 5,000 destinations worldwide. 24/7 Customer Service.

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Operating principles of Ctrip Travel Network

Adhering to the principle of "customer-centric", Ctrip group creates a "win-win" partnership cooperation system with a close and seamless cooperation mechanism between teams, meticulous professionalism, and the cooperation concept of truth and integrity, so as to jointly create the maximum value.

1. Customer - customer-centered

2. Teamwork - close and seamless cooperation mechanism

3. Responsibility - meticulous professionalism

4. Integrity - cooperation concept of real integrity

5. Partner - partnership win-win cooperation system

Product logo of Ctrip

It symbolizes convenient and flexible dolphins.
In June 2012, Ctrip group released a new logo, focusing on the dolphin pattern, which is changed from the dolphin outline to blue solid. With the dolphin pattern of eyes and mouth, the overall size has been reduced, and the main tone remains the original blue and orange. Ctrip group explained that the new logo reflects Ctrip's continued convenience, flexibility, intelligence, and innovation in the mobile Internet era.

Ctrip's website concept

Take it from society and use it in society.

Products and services provided by Ctrip

1. Tourism and vacation products

Ctrip provides hundreds of vacation product lines. In addition, tourism is also divided into theme tourism, nearby tourism, domestic tourism, overseas tourism, and other different forms of tourism. In each form, the content is detailed and rich, which can be suitable for guests to make different choices.

2. Private guide platform

Nearly 500 tour guides joined Ctrip's private guide platform. The service released by the tour guide is a walking guide in China, including a 9-hour daily explanation and guide service. Tourists can complete the whole process of service reservation and transaction through the platform: tourists can choose their favorite guide on the platform according to the guide's age, gender, price, service times, comments, etc. After selection, tourists can also communicate with tour guides to preliminarily determine their needs. Before travel, the tour guide will also customize personalized travel routes according to the needs of tourists. After determining the itinerary, tourists can confirm the contract and pay online on the platform.

3. Ctrip Consultant
Ctrip launched a new "B2C2C" personal tourism sharing economic service model in 2016. Ctrip consultants provide tourism consultation and reservation services for guests with the help of the Ctrip brand and product library. Using the Ctrip consultant app, Ctrip consultant can provide the most effective help to consumers who want tourism consulting and reservation services.

4. Hotel reservation service
Ctrip has a leading hotel reservation service center in China, which provides instant reservation services for members. There are more than 32000 cooperative hotels in more than 5900 cities in 138 countries and regions around the world, with more than 2000 hotel reserved rooms.

5. High-speed rail purchasing service and domestic train service
Adhering to the principle of customer service, Ctrip group provides ticket selling services for train tickets (including high-speed railway and bullet train) for nearly three months, ticket changing, and refund services. In addition, it can purchase tickets through small programs on the mobile terminal.

6. Ctrip car rental service
Ctrip car rental opens up the whole ecological chain from financial service providers, automobile manufacturers, car rental suppliers, and users.

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During the epidemic, Ctrip Group introduced a series of policies.

1. January 21, 2020: Ctrip has launched two policies for free cancellation of air tickets, hotels, and air tickets in Wuhan.

2. January 23, 2020: Ctrip.com launched the "Safety Cancellation Guarantee" program, and more than 400,000 hotels worldwide have joined.

3. January 24, 2020: Ctrip launched a major disaster prevention fund of 100 million yuan.

4. January 26, 2020: Ctrip upgraded its major disaster prevention fund to 200 million yuan.

5. January 27, 2020: Ctrip responds to national policies to provide unsubscription protection for consumers who have previously purchased group tours.

6. January 28, 2020: In order to avoid customers waiting anxiously, Ctrip announced that it will pay overseas hotel refunds in advance during the Spring Festival.

7. February 2, 2020: Global hotels "cancel with confidence" guarantee postponed to the end of February 2020.

8. February 11, 2020: Ctrip Car Rental launched 2000 "epidemic prevention" public welfare vehicles, covering nearly 100 cities across the country.

9. In the face of the suspension of railway and air transportation services, Ctrip has introduced a free order cancellation policy. Many users expressed support for Ctrip to actively take measures to prevent the epidemic.

Ctrip achieves "self-help" through live broadcast.

①　Ctrip is the first in the travel industry to increase the amount of major disaster protection funds to 200 million yuan. At the beginning of the epidemic, Ctrip invested 200 million yuan to cancel subscriptions. After all, the impact of the epidemic and the unsubscription expenditures exerted real pressure on Ctrip's cash flow. In an attempt to help companies increase their cash flow, Ctrip has taken a new approach to have a "live-streaming with goods" model, and it has become a hot topic for online travel.

②　 Ctrip once broadcasted pre-sale hotel products on Douyin, Kuaishou, and other platforms. As Chairman of Ctrip's board of directors, Liang Jianzhang put down his entrepreneurial figure, turned into Internet celebrity James, and appeared frequently on various social media platforms. This industry tycoon over the age of 50 is proficient in using online language to interact with potential customers in the live broadcast room.

③　Ctrip CEO Sun Jie said that during the epidemic, all members of the company should work together and put the interests of customers first. Therefore, Ctrip firmly believes that Ctrip will be better and stronger after the epidemic.

④　 "Tourism + live broadcast" is not a new path that Ctrip has opened during the epidemic. From the birth of the Ctrip community in 2000 to 2018, the Ctrip Travel Photography Channel was officially launched. Through self-built content and investment, Ctrip has carried out a wide range of content dissemination, information transmission, and transaction decision-making.

⑤　Ctrip has users with the highest conversion rate. Among the 800,000 hotels in China, many leisure and resort hotels have begun to participate in live broadcasts, capturing increasingly discerning users.

Ctrip launches hotel promotions.

①　The main tourism product promoted by Ctrip's hotel promotion is high-end hotels. Based on the advantages of thousands of purchasers at home and abroad, Ctrip can get cost-effective hotel products.

②　 Economic hotels and high-star hotels are incomparable in terms of business form. The income of economic hotels is single, and the income of high-star hotels is more diversified and can be crossed with other businesses.

③　Ctrip has a huge amount of air ticket reservations, which can effectively drive hotel reservations in different places. This advantage is particularly prominent in cross-border travel.

④　Ctrip has packaged many rich products based on the characteristics of different hotels and used differentiated methods to realize the value of the hotel itself during the epidemic.

While exploring the domestic market, Ctrip Group actively serves the overseas market.

At present, in the context of repeated global epidemics, Ctrip timely launched a series of measures to achieve economic recovery. The measures to achieve economic recovery mainly include two aspects: one is to deeply cultivate the domestic market, and the other is to serve the overseas market.

① In the domestic market

On the one hand, starting from its own business layout field, improve the service quality on the supply side of domestic tourism resources.

For example, Ctrip has helped more than 200000 Hotel partners in the hotel business. Ctrip's value-added rights and interests include free cancellation, free breakfast, upgrading room type, delayed check-out, etc. Ctrip saves users more than 2 billion yuan. In fact, tourism is essentially a kind of experience consumption. People's demand for experience remains unchanged. The epidemic may affect the tourism business, but there is also a compensation effect of consumption. Typically, long-distance tourism is gone and short-distance tourism begins to be lively. Taking Ctrip's Holiday Farm as an example, the holiday farm is located in the scenic spot of Jiyuan City, Henan Province, focusing on the unique landscape near mountains and rivers. At the same time, in order to restore and protect the local ecological harmony and environmental protection, the selection standard of building decoration materials in the whole park is not only higher than the local requirements but also all the original trees are retained and regularly maintained during the construction of the park, so as to maximize the restoration of its natural growth environment. It can be said that in the environment of repeated epidemic and the sluggish economy, the construction of Ctrip's vacation farm not only realizes the full excavation and utilization of tourism resources, but also meets people's strong tourism consumption demand for short-distance peripheral tourism and quality leisure tourism, drives the development of local rural tourism, and brings new social enterprise thinking to help rural revitalization.

On the other hand, in terms of platform positioning, Ctrip is gradually developing from a pure trading platform to a "content + trading" platform.

In fact, with the rise of generation Z consumer groups, it has become an indisputable fact that tourism users are younger. However, from the perspective of users, the significance of Ctrip is to provide tourists with a perfect travel scheme, so the tourism experience is extremely important.

In traditional cognition, users' tourism experience is mainly concentrated in the consumption stage, but for personalized and younger generation Z users, the consumption experience has actually started from the travel decision-making stage, and the greatest value of building a content community is to help users shorten the decision-making cycle and improve the tourism experience.

Because the essence of content is information + carrier, tourism resource information is directly transmitted to users through graphics, short video, live broadcast, and other carriers to help users quickly make information screening. At the same time, high-quality content can promote users to change from tourism demand-driven to interest-driven, and finally complete the transformation of Tourism transactions.

From this perspective, driven by the strategy of "tourism marketing hub", Ctrip's "community + live + flagship store" has become a winning magic weapon for Ctrip to attract customers and stimulate young users' travel inspiration.

② In the overseas market

On the one hand, Ctrip continues to strengthen the infrastructure construction of overseas systems and takes the lead in providing platform empowerment for offline partners such as scenic spots and exhibition halls in the Asia Pacific market.

On the other hand, Ctrip actively promotes service to the sea and creates new incremental space in the overseas local tourism market. For example, TrainPal, an innovative product of train ticket business launched by Ctrip, pioneered app online self-help Q&A and manual service in the UK market, which not only solved the problems of high labor cost and difficult management in the UK, but also greatly improved the efficiency of overseas tourism customer service instant messaging system, and truly realized the cost reduction and efficiency increase of overseas tourism services.

In addition, Ctrip also teamed up with Gansu Provincial Department of tourism and culture, China Thailand chamber of Commerce, China Singapore Chamber of Commerce, and other institutions to open a new model of "attracting tourists into Gansu", so that overseas tourists can quickly restore their confidence in tourism in China and promote the recovery of the inbound tourism market.

In fact, under the market background of repeated epidemics, what online tourism enterprises need to do most is to lay a good foundation, accumulate strength, and actively deal with the uncertainty of the future tourism market.

In general, if the economy of the tourism industry wants to develop healthily for a long time, it needs to be "deep" in two aspects: one is the user, and the other is the industrial chain. On the one hand, under the general trend of younger users, tourism marketing must find out the user positioning, take users as the core and products as the means, so that users' sense of consumption experience is greater than the product useability of the platform, and finally achieve high user stickiness and form a benign marketing ecosystem. On the other hand, under the impact of the epidemic, the importance of the basic supply chain of the tourism industry is particularly prominent. Therefore, tourism platforms must extend the industrial chain and realize the exchange of needs between upstream and downstream, so as to complete the localization, in-depth and diversified product management, and the creation of new formats. From this perspective, Ctrip seems to have grasped the key points of the long-term development of the tourism industry.

From point to the area, Ctrip group's ecological empowerment can fight the cold winter of the epidemic.

For Ctrip, it is these large, medium and small tourism partners scattered all over the country and even around the world who have built Ctrip's huge tourism ecological network. But now these tourism network nodes and relationship chains have suffered a fatal blow under the impact of the epidemic. If Ctrip wants to achieve rapid economic recovery, it is inseparable from the activation and empowerment of tourism platform partners.

① In terms of air ticket business, in the second quarter of 2021, Ctrip helped 27 domestic airports improve passenger transit efficiency through intelligent passenger ticket comprehensive solutions, and the passenger throughput of 24 airports increased by double digits year-on-year. After the cooperation with Ctrip in air-to-air intermodal transport, the number of segments of the cooperative airport increased by nearly 40% compared with the same period in 2019.

② In terms of business travel business, Ctrip business travel has provided digital empowerment for 520000 small and medium-sized enterprises and 12000 large enterprises, helping enterprises reduce their travel management expenses by up to 30%, and more than 25 million employees can enjoy high-quality travel services without advance payment. In the second quarter of 2021, Ctrip gave fee reduction policies to travel agency stores seriously affected by the epidemic, involving a cost of nearly 80 million yuan.

③ Ctrip also provides diversified marketing empowerment for all platform partners through marketing methods such as content community, live broadcast and flagship store. For example, in the "919 travel stock up and cost-effective Festival" launched this year, Ctrip cooperates with multiple destination governments and gathers large, medium and small brands and merchants on the platform to create a series of "super destination" IP, so as to continuously improve the cash flow reserves of brand merchants and user brand perception, so as to realize the benefits of users, merchants, destinations and Ctrip brands, and work together for win-win results.

④ Ctrip tourism and vacation business department also encourages excellent guides to create independent studios on Ctrip platform through traffic support and IP shaping, so as to further alleviate the business pressure of small and medium-sized travel agency stores. In the second quarter of 2021, the Ctrip platform added 340 guide studios, and the transaction volume of guide studios increased significantly compared with the first quarter.

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James Liang Jianzhang: How travel industry copes with pandemic

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Repair domestic tourism ecology.

As the head of the domestic OTA industry, Ctrip is also responsible for maintaining and repairing the ecology of the domestic tourism industry while realizing self-rescue from the epidemic. As a service industry-oriented to user needs, the source of all industry ecology is based on users. From January 21, 2020, to February 20, 2020, Ctrip Group issued an upgraded 25 safeguard measures. Air tickets, hotels, homestays, train tickets, car rentals, cars, cruises, and travel and vacation products are all-encompassing. Ctrip Group also released "Travel Recovery V Plan" and so on, fully demonstrating a group's responsibility.

Ctrip takes the initiative to bear the cost of the cancellation loss.

Among many OTA platforms, the best refund for travel orders is Ctrip. Safeguard measures require money, and the major disaster safeguard fund rose from 100 million to 200 million only one day later. In 2020, Ctrip's administrative expenses suddenly increased from the previous 800 million yuan to 1.9 billion yuan. The 1.2 billion yuan compensation paid to the hotel was treated as a bad debt by Ctrip, and it proactively assumed the loss of unsubscription, improved customer experience, and preserved its reputation. Not only individual users but also merchants that have business cooperation with Ctrip. During the epidemic, in the absence of order revenue, various interest parties in the domestic tourism market defaulted on the balance payment or even waived the payment, which caused an increase in transaction costs. And Ctrip has advanced more than 1 billion yuan for merchants, sharing part of the business risks of the merchants. This virtually enhanced Ctrip's brand influence and business reputation.

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Ctrip CEO on collaboration with UK's Skyscanner | East Tech West

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Ctrip continues to strengthen its competitive edge during the epidemic.

Let the world see a different Ctrip. Ctrip can choose to continue fighting when most international travel companies are resting. It has been trying various ways to lead the recovery of market confidence and strengthen its own competitiveness. After the epidemic, it can continue its internationalization journey and become the world's leading online travel company. Ctrip seizes the new trend and fully explores the new depth of tourism products, which is a strategic window in itself.

Ctrip effectively protected the consumer rights and interests of customers at home and abroad during the epidemic.

The "Report" shows that as of June 2020, more than 70% of consumer searches for travel products on multiple platforms of the Ctrip Group are concentrated on travel within the Asia-Pacific region. It can be seen that during the epidemic, Ctrip led the large-scale unsubscribing of "OTA", which not only effectively protected the consumer rights of domestic users but also became the preferred brand of overseas users.

Ctrip has global supply channels.

At present, Ctrip Group has successively acquired a number of aviation OTAs with different competitive advantages and has established distribution partnerships with major international hotel brands. In addition, Ctrip Group has signed most of the listings in popular Asian cities through its local sales team, and the overseas listings through third-party agents are mainly distributed in small cities in Europe and the United States. The foundation at the global supply chain level is also fully prepared.

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Passengers seen at the Beijing Daxing International Airport on June 3, 2021 Photo: cnsphoto

Asian countries are likely to resume international travel in the following three months while China, which is more cautious, is estimated to restart it six months later after learning experiences from other countries, Liang Jianzhang, chairman and CEO of China's leading travel agency Ctrip, made the prediction at a forum on Thursday.

Liang also revealed that the long-awaited resumption of quarantine-free travel between the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong Special Administrative Region is expected to be approved shortly.

According to the data Liang displayed at the forum, the airline market in Europe has bounced back to about 70 percent of pre-pandemic levels and is likely to fully reach 2019 numbers by summer, 2022. The average weekly load factor in the US has reached to around 80 percent in October.

The international travel market outside Asia has recovered to about half of pre-pandemic levels, Liang pointed out.

Liang mentioned he recently spent months traveling around the world, visiting and having meetings with tourism officials of the US, the UK, Austria, Spain and Portugal. They are eagerly looking forward to the return of Asian tourists, especially those from China.

The prediction about when China can open its gates to the world again has caught global attention while some countries are announcing their reopening policies although the pandemic is ramping and dangerous mutations keep popping up.

Chinese officials and experts have reiterated on many occasions that China will continue its dynamic zero-COVID policy and strictly prevent imported cases to protect local residents. They said that the policy would adjust depending on the situation of the global situation of the pandemic.

Based on the current situation of the pandemic, Gao Fu, Director of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, told media recently that China would carry on its dynamic zero-COVID policy at least until the end of spring, 2022, as it is estimated that during this period there will certainly be imported cases that could generate local community transmission.

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Asian countries likely to resume intl travel in 3 months, China in half a year: Ctrip CEO

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Asian countries are likely to resume international travel in the following three months while China, which is more cautious, is estimated to restart it six months later after learning experiences from other countries, Liang Jianzhang, chairman and CEO of China's leading travel agency Ctrip, made the prediction at a forum on Thursday.

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Ctrip launched the "Travel Recovery V Plan".

It is not only the action plan of Ctrip and Ctrip Ecosystem itself but also an industry revitalization plan that unites the entire industry, tourism authorities, and scenic spots to participate. Through smart investment, refined subsidies, etc., the 1 billion recovery fund can be used to its fullest effect and is committed to the overall revitalization of the tourism economy. Driven by Ctrip's strong industry influence and execution, it has achieved ideal results: Linking more than 200,000 domestic industry partners to invest more than 2 billion yuan in tourism recovery funds, activating more than 20 million users to restart travel. The overall recovery of the travel industry has also contributed to Ctrip Group's two consecutive quarters of profitability and outperforming the global travel market.

Ctrip once again announced the launch of a "Travel Recovery V Plan 2.0".

In this plan, Ctrip not only promised to double the investment in the recovery fund but also committed to seizing the opportunity of the global tourism recovery and leading the entire industry back to the track of rapid growth. In the "2.0" plan of tourism recovery, a key point that Ctrip has emphasized is to reactivate overseas travel and overseas travel business. According to a report from the China Tourism Research Institute, as the scope of vaccination continues to expand, residents' willingness to travel will remain above 85% in 2022. The inbound and outbound tourism market is expected to start in an orderly manner in the second half of 2022, and the number of Chinese citizens traveling abroad is expected to increase by 70% year on year. With the solid foundation of the "Tourism Recovery V Plan" and the favorable conditions that the inbound and outbound tourism market is about to pick up significantly, Ctrip, which is ready to go, will surely achieve great development in 2022.

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Voices Of Success: Jane Sun, Chief Executive Officer, Ctrip.com International Ltd

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Ctrip has opened a free self-service ticket cancellation service.

On January 24, 2020, a message plunged the tourism industry into a state of crisis: China's national law requires the suspension of team travel. To this end, Ctrip issued a legal statement on its official website. The legal statement said that the products such as group tourism, semi self-help tourism, and private group tourism that had previously placed orders were returned without damage. After the WHO’s announcement on January 31, 2020, many countries around the world have introduced restrictions on entry to China, involving the cancellation of thousands of flights and multiple overseas hotel orders. Therefore, in this case, Ctrip will not only actively coordinate for guests In follow-up, but it has also increased the scope of protection within the scope permitted by Chinese law, and extended the “cancel with peace of mind” protection for global hotels to the end of February, from the original 18 days to 39 days. At the same time, Ctrip issued a legal statement on Ctrip's official website to its 8,000 stores, announcing the three-month management fee reduction and extension of the task quota. In addition, Ctrip has invested a lot of marketing resources to support and implement the "Hotel Charging Plan" for hotels participating in the "Safe Cancellation Guarantee" program, with the purpose of helping partners recharge and tide over the difficulties. Due to the exemption of refund fees, the consulting volume of the Ctrip ticket business line has increased significantly. On January 27, 2020, Ctrip relies on manual customer service to handle a large number of refund orders. Until February 2020, after both parties confirmed the detailed rules (protected by Chinese law), Ctrip opened a free self-service cancellation booking service, which alleviated Ctrip's workload pressure to a certain extent.

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How the tourism industry can recover post pandemic | FT

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Ctrip actively cooperates with partners and assumes corresponding responsibilities.

On February 5, 2020, when the wave of cancellation of travel orders for half a month caused by the epidemic stabilizes, Ctrip will provide air tickets, hotels, tourism, and vacation services on its platform within the scope permitted by Chinese law. Partners in this field announced the launch of the "community" plan, including 10 specific measures, investment of 1 billion yuan in partner support fund, and 10 billion yuan in microfinance. For the "team tour" supplier of the tourism and vacation platform, Ctrip group issued a legal notice on the Ctrip official website platform within the scope permitted by Chinese law, indicating that Ctrip agreed to reduce the advertising and promotion expenses invested before the Spring Festival and the order transaction commission during the Spring Festival. In addition, to the extent permitted by Chinese law, Ctrip group also bears the expenses of air tickets, hotels, visas, and vehicles that cannot be reduced in the cancellation orders of the Spring Festival.

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Shanghai-based CTrip Corporate Travel of Trip.com Group renews strategic partnership agreement with Amadeus delivering hospitality content to corporate customers across China.

Covid-19 has had an extraordinary impact on business travel, and now many agencies are rethinking aspects of their business, accommodating the changing needs of corporate travelers.

To support its 12,000+ corporate customers travel in and out of China, CTrip Corporate Travel has renewed a multi-year strategic partnership with Amadeus to support the technology innovation needed for expanding its operations across Asia Pacific.

CTrip Corporate Travel's customers can now shop and book hospitality content via the Amadeus Travel Platform.

Steve Zhang, CEO of Ctrip Corporate Travel, said: "We are excited to see the strong recovery of corporate travel in China. Despite the extensive use of conferencing options, business travel has recovered stronger, in line with the domestic economic growth in this market. With business travelers increasingly turning to corporate travel management services, we are delighted to renew our strategic long-term partnership with Amadeus. The Amadeus Travel Platform will be a cornerstone in the expansion of our travel management business this year and beyond."

Brian Chien, Senior Vice President, Travel Sellers and Online, Greater China and Managing Director, Amadeus China said: "As one of the world's largest business travel markets, China presents tremendous growth opportunities for our business, and our strategic partnership with Trip.com Group has helped Amadeus establish a strong presence in the country. We are pleased to be supporting CTrip Corporate Travel in bringing its customers extensive and relevant hotel content through the Amadeus Travel Platform, so its travelers can get back on the road safely and confidently."

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CTrip Corporate Travel Enters into a Renewed Strategic Partnership with Amadeus

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Shanghai-based CTrip Corporate Travel of Trip.com Group renews strategic partnership agreement with Amadeus delivering hospitality content to corporate customers across China. Covid-19 has had an extraordinary impact on business travel, and now many agencies are rethinking aspects of their business, accommodating the changing needs of corporate travelers.

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Ctrip has global service capability.

The internationalization route of the Ctrip group is divided into three steps. The first step is to help Chinese tourists explore the world and serve the outbound tourism market. The second step is to help Asia Pacific tourists travel abroad. The third step is to provide international tourism services for global tourists. At present, the most important development stage of the Ctrip group is still in the first two stages. In the late epidemic era, the Ctrip group will make efforts in the third stage.

It can be seen that once the overseas epidemic is fully controlled, Ctrip with global service capability will have the opportunity to become the most popular one-stop travel reservation platform for overseas users.

In short, Ctrip is leading many partners out of a difficult and correct long-term road in the cold winter of the epidemic. With the global spread of the Omicron epidemic, the global tourism industry will face a new round of challenges.

However, while resisting the uncertainty of the market environment, Ctrip has found a definite future for the industry through its long-term economic strategy. Therefore, the whole tourism industry can still be expected in the future.

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Tourism under pressure amid the pandemic

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Qunar

Qunar is China’s leading travel search engine. Qunar is the world’s largest Chinese online travel website. It was founded in February 2005 and is headquartered in Beijing.

Qunar.com provides consumers with the real-time search for air tickets, hotels, venues, and holiday products, as well as group purchases of travel products and other travel information services, as well as online technology and mobile technology solutions for partners in the travel industry.

The main service of Qunar.com

Qunar.com provides tourists with the in-depth search of domestic and foreign air tickets, hotels, conference venues, vacation and visa services to help Chinese tourists make better tourism choices. Through its search technology, Qunar integrates information such as air tickets, hotels, holidays, and visas into the Internet to provide users with price queries and comparison services of tourism products. Qunar's goal is to help consumers find the most valuable airline tickets, hotels, visas, vacation routes, and other tourism services.

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【去哪儿网】机票查询预订，酒店预订，旅游团购，度假搜索，门票预订-去哪儿网Qunar.com

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去哪儿Qunar.com提供机票,飞机票,特价机票,打折机票的查询预订；99元春秋航空特惠折扣机票，百元南航、海航惊喜特价机票任您挑选,国航、深航1折特价机票和折扣机票一网打尽，更多打折机票尽在Qunar.com。实时提供上百家旅游预订网站机票报价和航空公司直销机票价格，为您找到最实惠的飞机票信息,是你查询特价机票和机票预订的最佳途径。

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Epidemic prevention and control measures of Qunar.com

According to the "Daily Business News" report, on the afternoon of January 21, 2020, Qunar's online travel platform released the latest emergency measures in response to the epidemic and introduced a refund and reform protection policy. The content mainly includes the following three points:

1. Users who are diagnosed with COVID-19 or are quarantined at the airport (port) due to suspected COVID-19, as well as companions who are close contacts, can cancel all products booked on the platform for free.

2. For hotel, ticket, and car orders in Wuhan during the Spring Festival from now to January 31, the platform provides a free cancellation guarantee. At present, most hotels in Wuhan accept coordination and can unsubscribe without damage. For the loss of hotel orders that cannot be coordinated, the platform will bear the loss for users. Regarding various orders for public transportation (air tickets, railways), the civil aviation and railway departments have not yet introduced a special refund and reform policy for the epidemic. For users who need to unsubscribe, the platform will do its best to cooperate with airlines and other product providers. Communicate and coordinate for users to unsubscribe for free or reduce losses.

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Fearing COVID-19, Chinese tourists opt for new year close to home

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Chinese tourists, millions of whom have shunned overseas travel because of the COVID-19 pandemic, are limiting their journeys further to nearby cities and avoiding leaving their provinces.

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3. Qunar.com issued a legal statement on its official website on January 21, 2020, saying that the company took the lead in providing travel product unsubscribing services without any time and place restrictions for front-line workers such as medical personnel and journalists. By the end of March 2020, we and our partners have provided free unsubscribed products for this part of the population, with a total amount of nearly 20 million.

4. Qunar.com has strong team cooperation and execution ability. Qunar.com gives up all holidays, transforms the system, and follows up the implementation as soon as possible. Within the scope permitted by Chinese law, qunar.com takes the lead in launching the "civil aviation and railway passenger inquiry system", "entry-exit inquiry system", "Hubei passenger Hotel reservation system" and "epidemic radar" in the mid-term industry of the epidemic, The ability of information collection and coverage surpasses and maintains absolute advantages, providing effective solutions for users' travel during the epidemic.

5. Within the scope permitted by Chinese law, Qunar's human-technology team deployed preparations for working at home in advance. The proportion of working at home exceeded 80%, and the attendance rate reached 97%, basically reaching the efficiency of the collective office.

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Singapore - Trip.com Group, the leading global travel service provider comprising of Trip.com, Ctrip, Skyscanner, and Qunar, in cooperation with the World Travel & Tourism Council ( WTTC) yesterday published their global consumer trends report which observes the global travel and tourism landscape for 2021 as well as forecasts for the short-term and long-term future. The new report titled, "Trending in Travel: Emerging Consumer Trends in Travel & Tourism in 2021 and Beyond", uncovers the global trends for consumer travel by evaluating the booking data analysis and consumer survey responses acquired by the Group's platforms as well as those from industry sources, in a bid to better understand the changing consumer behaviour as a result of COVID-19.

According to WTTC research, the impact of COVID-19 has been devastating for the global travel and tourism industry as the sector witnessed a US$4.5 trillion drop in gross domestic product (GDP) and losses of 62 million jobs globally. According to the report, the pandemic has widely promoted a dynamic shift in consumer preferences for travel which are reflected in three broader clusters - notably booking trends, consumer considerations and consumer profiles. The pandemic has greatly impacted how consumers choose to travel, giving rise to the acceleration of existing and emerging trends which are detailed in the report. In addition, various market examples are also featured across the report.

Jane Sun, CEO of Trip.com Group, said, "Travellers around the world have shown their eagerness to travel, whether limited to domestic travel or able to cross borders, we see a huge amount of pent-up demand steadily being released. To better evolve with the recovery we must understand travellers, and as an industry adapt to emerging trends."

Julia Simpson, WTTC President & CEO, said, "It is clear people are really looking forward to travelling again. Consumers are curious, they are looking at new destinations, 'the great outdoors' and travel that benefits the places and people they visit. As travel and tourism represents over 10 percent of global GDP this is good news for jobs and economies. The impact in some countries has been devastating for local communities and this report shows that business is returning in earnest."

SUSTAINED DOMESTIC REDISCOVERY

As international travel continues to face persisting limitations or restrictions, travellers continue to remain compelled to search for travel experiences within their home countries. Therefore, the report identifies that domestic travel will continue to lead the recovery of the travel and tourism sector, especially in the short to medium-term.

In particular, the concept of staycations may continue to be in demand and more so for countries with prolonged restrictions on outbound travel. Globally, the report found that more than half of global travellers plan to travel for a domestic holiday in the next 12 months. Trip.com data analysed a surge in overall global domestic hotel bookings in 2021 as compared to previous years, with an increase of over 200 percent for 2021 compared to 2019.

Particularly for Asia-Pacific markets including Singapore, there has been a sustained increase in demand for staycations domestically. The report indicated that this growth and demand would also be attributed to the respective governmental policies for each country. Singapore, for example, introduced the SingapoRediscovers Vouchers (SRV) scheme to boost domestic demand. The scheme grants locals, above the age of 18, S$100 vouchers for use on hotel stays, tours, and at attractions.

The report noted that domestic travel may slow proportionally as international travel returns, but added that the trend to rediscovering domestic destinations is likely to linger in the long-term.

PREFERENCE FOR LONGER STAYS

2021 has shown a pent-up demand for extended stays with approximately one in four global travellers preferring longer stays of over ten nights, thus suggesting a trend towards extended stays as travellers attempt to make the most of trips taken. In addition to which, the pandemic has also incited an appetite for hybrid models of travel, which combine work and school with leisure travel. Termed 'Bleisure', in the form of 'workcations' or 'flexcations', this form of travel is also a key force to aid the recovery of the travel and tourism industry.

In Asia Pacific, a majority of Thai (69 percent), Vietnamese (57 percent) and Chinese (54 percent) respondents indicated that remote work during quarantine and travel would encourage them to stay longer during their trips.

A NEW WAVE OF TRAVELLERS

The report uncovered that travellers today value flexible bookings for travel products and this has led to the need for the industry, including airlines, hotels and travel providers, to adapt and review cancellation policies to accommodate changes that may affect traveller itineraries. Global data from Trip.com also identified shorter booking windows for hotel and flight bookings made on the site - where flight booking windows decreased by 56 percent to 23 days, and hotel bookings dropped by 22 days to 10 days in H1 2021, compared to H1 2019.

With the prolonged periods of isolation facilitated by COVID-19, travellers are showing a preference to travel to less crowded and even unfamiliar destinations, with an increased interest in exploring secondary destinations and nature. According to Ctrip data for Asia-Pacific, there has been a rise in nature-related attraction bookings - with a 264.5 percent increase in H1 2021 compared to H1 2020.

Travellers today are seen to opt for more sustainable and wellness-driven travel options. The report identified an increase for travellers, notably 94 percent of travellers in Thailand, who plan to reduce and recycle when visiting a destination. Virus prevention measures are also crucial in the making of travel plans. In particular, a majority of Asia-Pacific consumers (72.8 percent) prioritise clear health and safety precautions above price (36.8 percent) and location (46.3 percent).

Looking ahead, there is no doubt that travel will recover - with the WTTC projecting a rise in travel & tourism GDP by 30.7 percent in 2021 and 31.7 percent in 2022.

For more information on the Trending in Travel: Emerging Consumer Trends in Travel & Tourism in 2021 and Beyond report, download the full report here.

About Trip.com Group

Trip.com Group is a leading one-stop travel service provider comprising of Trip.com, Ctrip, Skyscanner, and Qunar. Across its platforms, Trip.com Group enables local partners and travelers around the world to make informed and cost-effective bookings for travel products and services, through the aggregation of comprehensive travel-related information and resources, and an advanced transaction platform consisting of mobile apps, Internet websites and 24/7 customer service centers. Founded in 1999 and listed on NASDAQ in 2003, Trip.com Group has become one of the best-known travel brands in the world, with the mission of 'making every trip the perfect trip'

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Trip.com Group and WTTC Publish 'Trending in Travel' Report Uncovering Current and Upcoming Consumer Trends

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Trip.com Group, the leading global travel service provider comprising of Trip.com, Ctrip, Skyscanner, and Qunar, in cooperation with the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) today published their global consumer trends report which observes the global travel and tourism landscape for 2021 as well as forecasts for the short-term and long-term future.

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Continuous growth driven by "quality + low price"

Chen Gang, CEO of Qunar.com, introduced that the number of trading users in qunar in 2020 increased by tens of millions year-on-year in 2019. Among the new users, users in cities below the third tier accounted for 46%, and those born after 1995 accounted for 40%.

Qunar integrates upstream and downstream resources, relies on platform technology and data advantages, and provides comprehensive support to partners through Commission exemption, marketing fee return, marketing assistance, efficiency assistance, service assistance, etc.

It is expected to achieve profitability throughout the year

1. Affected by the epidemic, the tourism industry has ushered in unprecedented challenges this year. In the unforgettable 2020, Chen Gang said that the epidemic broke out at the end of January, and the travel demand fell to the freezing point. The sweeping refund pressure made the tourism platform bear great service pressure, and Qunar.com invested huge human and material resources to reconstruct the system.

2. Since the second quarter, with the gradual stabilization of the domestic epidemic, Qunar's core business began to grow steadily. Chen Gang said that in June, the whole platform had realized the profit and loss balance of the current month. In August, domestic air ticket bookings showed positive growth for the first time since the epidemic. In September, the number of domestic hotel reservations exceeded that of the same period last year. In October, the travel demand of tourists suppressed for more than half a year was finally released, and the tourism industry also ushered in the largest wave of travel since the epidemic. Qunar data show that during holidays, the booking volume of tourism products in 15 provinces and municipalities directly under the central government exceeded that of last year.

3. "According to the current recovery rate, we will be profitable by the end of December. We are a leader in the whole industry in terms of recovery level and speed." Chen Gang said that the impact of the epidemic on the tourism industry can not be avoided, but in the face of huge travel demand, Qunar is still full of opportunities in the future.

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Tourism revenue during the Mid-Autumn Festival holiday reached 37.15 billion yuan (about $5.75 billion), recovering to 78.2 percent of that in 2019.[Photo/Xinhua]

During this year's three-day Mid-Autumn Festival holiday, China witnessed more than 88 million domestic trips, about 87.2 percent of the figure for 2019, highlighting the strong recovery momentum in the country's tourism sector.

According to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the tourism revenue during the holiday reached 37.15 billion yuan (about $5.75 billion), recovering to 78.2 percent of that in 2019.

China's tourism industry seems to have adapted to the current situation of regular epidemic prevention and control, with growing market demand and more innovative business models and growth points.

In 2020, the international tourism industry was battered by the COVID-19 pandemic, witnessing a sharp decrease of 73 percent in the number of international tourists worldwide, according to the World Conference on Tourism Cooperation and Development held in Beijing.

However, with the rigorous implementation of regular epidemic prevention, China's tourism market has gradually recovered since the beginning of this year.

Statistics show that in the first half of 2021, the number of domestic tourists in China reached 1.87 billion, rising by 100.8 percent year on year. The gross revenue of domestic tourism hit 1.63 trillion yuan, up 157.9 percent from one year earlier.

As China's tourism market digested the impact of the pandemic, new trends and business models emerged. Theme-park tours, short-distance tours and road trips have become popular in the past Mid-Autumn Festival holiday.

China's leading online travel agency Trip.com Group, formerly known as Ctrip, released a report on tourism data during the Mid-Autumn Festival holiday, which highlighted the strong demand for short-distance trips.

A number of short-distance tours are offered as bundles with offline social games, such as Jubensha, literally translated as "script homicide" -- a role-playing murder-mystery game that is growing in popularity among young people.

The bundle is one of the novel business models emerging in China's travel market, said He Jingfu, head of an entertainment company in east China's Shandong Province, adding that Jubensha is bringing more possibilities to the tourism industry.

Meanwhile, an increasing number of Chinese tourists are being drawn to domestic theme parks, including the newly-opened Universal Beijing Resort and Shanghai Disneyland.

The Universal Beijing Resort, currently the largest in scale worldwide, opened to the public on Monday, and was ranked among the top three most popular tourist destinations before this year's Mid-Autumn Festival holiday, according to Trip.com Group.

On the Qunar.com, China's online travel-service provider, tickets for the resort in the Mid-Autumn Festival holiday were sold out within 30 minutes, with the first one gone in a second.

The recovery of China's cultural tourism market is also bringing more opportunities and benefits to the global tourism industry, aided by various tourism fairs and expos.

From Sept 16 to 20, the 2nd China International Cultural Tourism Fair (CICTF) was held in Shandong's capital city of Jinan, attracting tourism authorities from 17 countries and more than 2,600 exhibitors with over 500,000 exhibits. Deals worth 437 million yuan were inked at the fair, an increase of 20.2 percent over the previous one.

Among the highlights at such exhibitions are goods from countries along the Belt and Road, including exotic souvenirs that would normally be sold to Chinese tourists abroad. Foreign businesses have been making up for the shortfall in orders by promoting their goods directly in China, thereby tapping directly into China's vigorous market.

Davor Richard, who hails from Ghana, went through a difficult time this year. His family is running a trade company in Shanghai, selling African tabla, masks, shea butter and other specialties that were popular among Chinese tourists before the pandemic.

"My business took a serious hit from the pandemic, but now things seem to be picking up again. The Chinese government has organized a lot of fairs just like this one. Customers are contacting us and orders are starting to boom again," said Richard.

Also at the fair was Muzaffar Bhat, an Iranian carpet seller, who said that the world is now sharing the fruit of China's tourism recovery, with tourism fairs like CICTF springing up again and business opportunities popping up anywhere. While the carpet market is relatively niche, he said the huge scale of Chinese market gives him hope for the future.

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china's tourism industry ， post-pandemic， recovery

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China's tourism industry sees strong post-pandemic recovery

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During this year's three-day Mid-Autumn Festival holiday, China witnessed more than 88 million domestic trips, about 87.2 percent of the figure for 2019, highlighting the strong recovery momentum in the country's tourism sector. According to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the tourism revenue during the holiday reached 37.15 billion yuan (about $5.75 billion), recovering to 78.2 percent of that in 2019.

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In order to combat the epidemic situation, Qunar network has protected the rights and interests of users by means of 6 withdrawal, reform, guarantee, and upgrading, "preventing" users from placing orders in all links, and scientific and technological means to help "fight the epidemic".

In addition, at the special moment of the national fight against covid-19, qunar and all its partners are under great pressure to preserve their own company. With everyone's joint efforts, qunar.com has recovered the losses for passengers to the greatest extent. For example, involuntary refunds that affect the refund speed used to rely on manual work because of their small volume and complex audit. The epidemic forced airlines, agents, GDS systems, and platforms to establish an automatic processing system. Qunar not only took the lead in completing but also opened its functions to partners to help them improve processing efficiency.

Qunar.com shares data and technology to airlines, scenic spots, hotels, and other partners free of charge to help them resume production.

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Qunar.com on international rail sales in China - Amadeus Rail Innovation Forum 2017

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The epidemic has changed the ranking of users' travel needs. Users who used to take price as the first choice now put safety needs such as contactless service and disinfection in the first place. How to quickly find the adjustment of demand and quickly select among many choices for users is the value of the platform.

The new driving force of Qunar's growth is concentrated in the consumer groups born after 1995 in small and medium-sized cities.

Chen Gang said that Qunar's future direction is very clear and firm, that is to adhere to "low price + quality". On the one hand, maintain the pursuit of the absolute low price on high-quality and standardized products such as air tickets and high star hotels. On the other hand, for those products with low customer unit price and fragmentation, the Qunar platform will help upgrade the supply side and increase the sense of acquisition of each unit of currency paid by users.

Qunar.com also took the lead in launching the secure living series, creating a safe and secure environment for users from searching, booking, checking in and checking out, and providing convenience for these users who just need to travel.

Under the epidemic situation, in addition to the decline in travel costs this year, users' tourism consumption habits are also undergoing irreversible changes. According to Qunar platform data, this year, the recovery speed of platform ticket business exceeded that of train tickets, the full room rate of high star hotels exceeded that of the low star, and the popularity of high-quality tourism products such as high-quality homestay and minority destinations increased throughout the year. While pursuing low prices, tourists also have new requirements for personalization, quality, and safety.

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[iClick Interactive X VTRE 2021] Interview Spotlight with Qunar.com

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2.3 COVID-19's impact on Catering Institutions

2.3.1 The impact of COVID-19 on Catering Instructions in the political aspect

In this epidemic, many provinces and cities in China have launched the first-class response to major public health emergencies and successively issued management measures. Since January 25, 2020, many large shopping malls in China have been closed, many chain catering brands have announced the closure, and some regional governments have also issued an emergency notice prohibiting the business of all catering stores. Many restaurants and barbecue stalls in China have closed down.

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2.3.2 The impact of COVID-19 on Catering Instructions in the legal aspect

2.3.2.1 Legal issues between catering enterprises and employees during epidemic prevention and control.

(1) Employment problems of catering enterprises under epidemic prevention and control.

Due to the outbreak of the epidemic, the human cost and management cost of the enterprise can not match the labor results, and its business pressure continues to increase with the development of the epidemic. In order to control costs, many catering enterprises may take measures such as layoffs, suspension of payment, or reduction of salary, but if they do not distinguish the situation and do not take reasonable measures, it will lead to legal risks.

(2) Whether employees of catering enterprises infected with COVID-19 at work can be considered as work-related injuries.

According to the provisions of Article 15 of the regulations on industrial injury insurance, those who die of sudden illness during working hours and posts or die of invalid rescue within 48 hours shall be regarded as an industrial injury. That is, if an employee dies from covid-19 infection during work or service or dies after ineffective rescue within 48 hours, it can be regarded as an industrial injury.

(3) If a worker is infected with covid-19 for non-work reasons, whether the employer has specific legal obligations during the treatment period.

If a worker is infected with covid-19 for non-work reasons, he shall enjoy the corresponding treatment in accordance with the relevant provisions of the "provisions on the medical period for enterprise employees suffering from illness or non-work-related injury".

(4) How to deal with employees who cannot return to their posts due to the epidemic situation.

For pneumonia patients, suspected patients, and close contacts of covid-19 who cannot provide normal labor during their isolation treatment or medical observation, as well as due to the implementation of isolation measures or other emergency measures by the government, the enterprise shall normally pay the work remuneration of the employees during this period.

For other employees who cannot return to work due to the epidemic situation (such as employees worried about infectious diseases, etc.), the enterprise may require them to work at home, arrange their annual leave, or overtime compensatory leave (if applicable). For employees who do not agree to work at home, take annual leave or overtime compensatory leave, the enterprise can negotiate with employees to arrange job waiting or personal leave, and clarify the salary during job waiting and personal leave, etc.

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What is the Impact of COVID-19 on Global Food Security? Coronavirus Live Series

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2.3.2.2 During the epidemic prevention and control period, whether the catering enterprise has the right to request the lessor to exempt or reduce the rent.

Affected by the epidemic, if the catering enterprises are required by the government and relevant departments to close or suspend business, resulting in the inability of the catering enterprises to operate normally, the catering enterprises may claim that the epidemic is force majeure, require the application of the legal exemption system of force majeure, and request to exempt the rent during the epidemic prevention and control period.

If the epidemic situation leads to a serious decline in the income and functional benefits brought by the possession and use of the leased property by the catering enterprise, and the continued performance of the contract will be obviously unfair to the lessee, the catering enterprise may claim that the epidemic situation constitutes a change of situation and apply to the court to reduce or reduce the rent during the epidemic period according to the principle of fairness.

Affected by the epidemic situation, the store is required by the lessor to close, suspend business or shorten normal business hours, resulting in the inability of the restaurant to operate normally. The catering enterprise can claim that the lessee cannot use the leased property normally due to the lessor, so as to claim a reduction or exemption of the rent during the suspension of business, and even claim compensation for the losses during the suspension of business.

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The Impact of COVID-19 on the Food & Beverage Industry

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2.3.3 The impact of COVID-19 on Catering Instructions in the ecomomic aspect

The hitherto unknown COVID-19 has brought unprecedented damage to the catering industry.

(1) During the outbreak of the epidemic, most catering enterprises are unable to operate normally. While causing significant losses in operating income, they still have to bear fixed expenses such as rent, labor cost, water, electricity, and depreciation. These are even worse for catering enterprises.

(2) Most catering enterprises have to bear the loss of expired food materials stored in advance. The loss of catering enterprises whose main business is to make and sell new and fresh ingredients is even heavier.

(3) Since the outbreak of the epidemic, many catering enterprises have actively mobilized resources to purchase a large number of protective materials and strive to meet the supply of epidemic prevention and control materials such as masks, temperature measuring equipment and disinfection products, which is not only to protect employees, but also to ensure that stores still open can provide reassuring catering services for consumers, which undoubtedly increases a cost expenditure.

(4) In order to alleviate the cash flow crisis, the first thing catering enterprises think of is to apply for loans from various financial institutions. However, for traditional financial institutions, catering enterprises, especially small and medium-sized catering enterprises, do not belong to high-quality and stable customers. It is difficult for catering enterprises to obtain loans from financial institutions. In the current crisis, there are few other channels for the catering industry to borrow money.

According to the statistics of the National Bureau of statistics, the national catering revenue in 2019 was 4672.1 billion yuan, of which 15.5% came from the traditional peak consumption season during the Spring Festival. The catering industry suffered serious losses during the Spring Festival in 2020. According to the survey, compared with the Spring Festival in 2019, 78% of catering enterprises lost more than 100% of their operating income during the epidemic period; 9% of enterprises have lost more than 90% of their revenue; 7% of enterprises lost 70% to 90% of their revenue; The loss of revenue below 70% is only 5%. According to the data of Evergrande Research Institute, the epidemic has caused a loss of about 500 billion yuan to the retail sales of the catering industry in only seven days of the Spring Festival.

In addition, according to the survey, 53.6% of the takeout merchants in business at the beginning of February 2020 accounted for more than half of the operating revenue, of which 42.9% accounted for more than 70%. In the short term, takeout has become an important way for catering merchants to tide over the epidemic crisis. In the long run, the epidemic has accelerated the online process of the catering industry to a certain extent. The combination of online and offline will become the new normal for the development of the catering industry during the epidemic period.

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2.3.4 Specific examples of COVID-19's impact on Catering Institutions

(1) During the epidemic: expand online business channels.

Since the outbreak of covid-19, Chinese catering enterprises have been directly and greatly impacted. The majority of catering enterprises (especially small and medium-sized enterprises) are facing great challenges such as a sharp decline in customer sources and a shortage of capital chains. During the epidemic period, although the offline operation of the catering industry was affected, the online business of many catering enterprises, such as takeout, continued to be carried out, and even further improved and improved the takeout service quality to strengthen consumer recognition and implement "self-help". Although Haidilao stopped the takeout business in this epidemic, for more small and medium-sized enterprises, on the premise of ensuring the safety of products and employees, they still need the online business to ensure their own operation and seek new profit points with the help of online business.

With the popularity of Internet technology and mobile terminals, catering enterprises can actively choose to cooperate with online ordering and distribution platforms such as "meituan" and "ele. Me", use the platform to obtain passenger flow and realize sustainable profits during the epidemic. At the same time, catering enterprises can also independently develop online trading platforms according to their actual situation and the characteristics of customer groups, such as building exclusive brand programs or establishing user groups and then arranging personnel distribution by themselves.

In addition, during the epidemic period, consumers' attention is relatively surplus, which is also a good opportunity to improve the reputation of catering brands. For example, inventory products can be donated to areas with the serious epidemic situation or sold at a discount for public welfare, so as to enhance public favor with the help of public welfare. Catering companies can also develop relevant programs and design small games on this basis to improve user brand stickiness.

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(2) Some catering companies represented by Haidilao, a famous catering company, adjusted relevant strategic planning in time during the epidemic period and successfully passed the dangerous period.

Introduction to Haidilao

Haidilao, founded in 1994, is a chain brand mainly engaged in Sichuan hot pot, founded by Zhang Yong. Haidilao always adheres to the material selection principle of "pollution-free, one-time" and strictly controls the food materials. After more than 20 years of market and customer testing, Haidilao has successfully created a hot pot brand with a high reputation and Sichuan hot pot characteristics. After 20 years of hard work, continuous progress, unity, and hard work, Haidilao has gradually started from an unknown small hot pot shop and now has nearly 20000 employees. Haidilao has a group of experts and professional technicians in food, diet, nutrition, engineering, storage, and management. Haidilao has 117 Direct stores, which have obtained HACCP certification, QS certification, and ISO9001 international quality system certification.

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Haidilao International Holding Ltd., doing business as Haidilao ( Chinese: 海底捞; pinyin: ), is a chain of hot pot restaurants founded in Jianyang, Sichuan, China in 1994. Its restaurants typically operate under the name Haidilao Hot Pot. It is the largest hotpot chain in China which is widespread through spicy broths and special services. With the expansion of Haidilao, there are also many chain restaurants located overseas, such as in London and New York City. Their annual revenue is estimated to be more than CN¥10 billion.

The name of the company originates from a mahjong term, haidilao, literally meaning "deep sea dredging", analogous to the act of completing a mahjong winning hand on picking up the last available tile in the game. This is very rare and considered very lucky.

Zhang Yong is the founder of Haidilao, and in March 1994, opened the first Haidilao hot pot restaurant along with three other founders with 8,000 Yuan in Jianyang, Sichuan Province. Sichuan is a place where people have hotpot often, which means there are many hotpot restaurants in the Sichuan area. However, Haidilao is competitive in a different way. Haidilao is not based on the flavor and excellence of the food, but rather, the competitive advantage that the chain holds is based on their customer service. For example, there was an instance where a customer came with dirty shoes, and Mr Zhang asked the staff to shine the customer's shoes. Although customers might not think Haidilao's flavor is the best, they still come for the special services. After five years, Haidilao started to expand beyond Sichuan to other provinces like Xi'an, Shanxi province and other parts of the world.

In 2018, Haidilao Hot Pot served more than 160 million customers, with an average daily table turnover rate (i.e. the number of parties hosted per table per day) of 5.0. Haidilao Hot Pot has more than 36 million VIP members and 60,000+ staff.

Running for more than 20 years, Haidilao has received multiple awards and certifications, both domestically and internationally.

With the rapid development of Haidilao, it has achieved more than 180 chains globally, more than 20,000 staff, and an annual turnover of 5 billion RMB (almost US$0.77 billion).

By the end of June 30, 2020, Haidilao Hot Pot had 935 stores in operation. In addition to the many locations in China, the company is serving in the areas of Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, Australia, Taiwan, United Kingdom, Canada, United States, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, South Korea, and Japan.

The company opened its first restaurant outside of mainland China in Clarke Quay, Singapore, in 2012. This was followed by its first US outlet, which opened in Westfield Santa Anita (California) in September 2013. Haidilao continued to develop its network abroad, entering the South Korean market in 2014, the Taiwanese and Japanese markets in 2015, and the Hong Kong market in 2017.

In 2008, Haidilao planned to increase $600 million to $700 million in the Hong Kong IPO which could increase the popularity in the global market.

In 2017, Haidilao's net profit rose 22% to 1.19 billion yuan and revenue increased 36% to 10.64 billion yuan.

In 2018, Haidilao raised nearly US$1 billion in a Hong Kong initial public offering (IPO). The IPO figures show that even though Haidilao faced some safety issues over the past two years, investors are still feeling positive of Haidilao's growth in the future.

Founded as a privately held company, Haidilao International Holding Ltd. filed to launch an initial public offering (IPO) in Hong Kong in 2018, aiming to raise up to US$700 million for further expansion.

As of 2018, Haidilao's IPO price of 17.80 Hong Kong dollars a share makes its market capitalization $12 billion.

Haidilao's concept is different when compared with other Chinese traditional hotpot in many aspects.

1. Customers can select their flavor of the different soup and enjoy the cooking experience.

2. Haidilao provides automatic kitchen in the restaurant, which could increase the efficiency of its operation.

3. Haidilao provides robots which are responsible for food delivery.

Haidilao has a very strict rule when selecting food suppliers. Various sources of recipes are added every year. There are more than 20 dipping sauces on haidilao's self-service condiment table. Side dishes like peanuts, cucumbers, and fresh food are always provided. Haidilao provides authentic Sichuan-style hotpot, and customers can pick four different soup bases in one pot, which is called a 4-broth pot.

In 2013, Haidilao developed new services where customers could see each other by using video conference facilities and remotely videoconference with customers at other Haidilao restaurants.

"Hi to send" service

Haidilao created the "Hi to send" delivery service in 2003. When staff send hotpots to customers' homes, they wear shoe covers and help customers to divide their food. They will wait outside until customers finish their food, after which they will take away the kitchenware. Since 2013, Haidilao opens for 24 hours a day and offers service of delivery food. Once customer orders delivery food, staff will send an electromagnetic pan, an induction cooker, a wiring board to customers' home.

Service in the restaurant is divided into three processes: (1) before eating; (2) during eating; (3) after eating.

(1) Before eating

Haidilao's employees will welcome customers warmly. Every Haidilao restaurant has a waiting room for customers. The waiting room has different sections that satisfy customers with various needs. To respect women's nature of loving beauty, Haidilao provides hand massages and manicure service. As for children, Haidilao also has a parent-child paradise, an indoor children's play area with facilities. Service before eating includes several free services like a car wash, fruits, snacks, drinks, nail salons and board games.

(2) During eating

A hot towel is provided to wipe one's hands when customers are seated. Different beverages are provided to different customers. Members of staff will also offer an apron and mobile phone bag for free during the eating process, and provide small hairpins for long-haired customers. After the staff introduce themselves, the customers' name and birthday will also get recorded in the system. Haidilao will provide gifts during the customer's birthday. People who are old, pregnant, and young will get special care from employees. If customers are celebrating a birthday party or wedding ceremony at haidilao, they will get a special gift. While eating at the dining area, customers can experience the Chinese culture through Sichuan's characteristic face-changing performance. as well as hand-pulled noodles performances. In China, hotpot is usually enjoyed by groups of people.

(3) After eating

After a customer has finished eating, the staff will provide free snacks and fruits, as well as mints and toothpicks..

For people who order via online store，Haidilao also provides service to help clean their facilities and return their tableware.

Zhang Yong said that "Haidilao imported standards to the kitchen from America, which means that Haidilao can control the warehouse's temperature, washing machines replaced labor, and also a modern distribution system."

HaiDiLao and Panasonic jointly launched a "smart" restaurant in 2018. This smart restaurant relies on Panasonic's robotics and image recognition technology to achieve full automation of the kitchen. After the customer orders the food with tablet computer ( iPad), the system in the kitchen can automatically recognize the dishes and puts them into the tray. The low temperature status of the automatic food store is effective in ensuring food hygiene, and automated meal replacement can eliminate human error. The system can also read the label information on the plate, accurately manages the type of dishes, the time of loading, the shelf life and other data to ensure food safety. In 2019, Haidilao opened the first robot-aided hotpot restaurant in Beijing.

On August 25, 2017, kitchen hygiene problems were reported from the Legal Evening News in the restaurants of Beijing Jinsong and Taiyanggong. A video of rat lying on the sink was uploaded to social media platform Weibo. After three and a half hours, Haidilao posted an apology letter about the hygiene issues.

Haidilao indicated that all stores need to have a "bright kitchen" which means that the kitchen is now visible to all customers thanks to the instalment of transparent glass and opening up of the space for visibility to all.

1. Haidilao welcomes all customers, media and management department to monitor Haidilao in order to comply with local laws and regulations (Wu, 2017).

2. The board of Haidilao will take the primary responsibility for this hygiene crisis in two stores.

The Beijing Municipal Food and Drug Administration had two meetings with the representatives of this Haidilao's hygiene problem and required Haidilao to make rectification to their cleanliness, resulting in the requirement that all stores in Beijing would need to be inspected within one month.

HaiDiLao reopened many stores after the improvement in the COVID-19 situation.. However, several customers were shocked and confused by the hike in prices. Some customers online even stated that they will not go back to HaiDiLao again due to the increased prices. After customers' complaints, the representative of HaDiLao stated the current price will only be limited to within 6% of the previous price. Every restaurant can select their price hikes based on different locations.

On the afternoon of January 5, 2019, a HaiDiLao restaurant located in Wuhan Great Ocean mall suddenly played a pornographic video on the restaurants' TV screen. One customer shared an image of the video on Weibo，where it has been retweeted more than 240 million times. Staff immediately turned off the screen after noticing the video. According to Chutian Metropolis Daily, this accident happened at 3 pm. When the reporter came to the location at 7 pm which is the peaking time for dinner, the TV screen remained switched off. On January 6, HaiDiLao posted an official apology on Weibo.

Under the COVID-19 pandemic situation, to decrease the spread of the virus, Haidilao closed all stores in mainland China on Jan, 21. With the decreasing cases of the virus, since Mar 12, Haidilao reopened many stores, and more than 600 restaurants have reopened. China securities company predicted that there will be a 5.04 billion yuan ($716 million) loss for Haidilao due to COVID-19. Haidilao's 2019 annual report shows that there is an obvious decline in the table's turnover rate and same-store sales rate. Table's turnover rate has decreased from 5.0 times a day in 2018 to 4.8 times a day. Same-store sales rates in both first and second-tier cities dropped from 4.3% to 1.9%.

Haidilao Hot Pot has won more than ten titles and honors such as "Advanced Enterprise", "Consumer satisfaction unit" and "Famous Hot Pot" in Sichuan, Shanxi, Henan and other provinces in China. From 2008 to 2012, it won the title of "Top 10 Hot Pot Restaurants" by the public comment website for 5 consecutive years in China. At the same time, it won the honorary title of "Top 100 Chinese Catering Enterprises" for 5 consecutive years. Haidilao became a successful business case of Harvard Business School in 2009. On May 27, 2011, "Haidilao" trademark was awarded " China Famous Brand". Since 2007 up until 2018, the hot pot restaurant has won the "China Top 100 Catering Companies" for 12 consecutive years. Haidilao won the "Best Hot Pot", "Outstanding Service," or "Outstanding Chinese Restaurant of the Year." prizes in magazines such as Time out and Beijinger in 2018.

1. ^ Shu, Chengli; Zheng, Shaoting (2019), China Europe International Business School (ed.), "Haidilao's Crisis Management: Threats, Opportunities and Corporate Values", China-Focused Cases, Singapore: Springer Singapore, pp. 183-194, doi:10.1007/978-981-13-2706-3_10, ISBN 978-981-13-2705-6

2. ^ Liu, Yan-Hong; Jie, Xiao-Wen (2017). "Exploring Haidilao Service Creativity: The Perspective of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs". Proceedings of the 2017 2nd International Conference on Humanities and Social Science (HSS 2017). Shenzhen, China: Atlantis Press: 534-538. doi:10.2991/hss-17.2017.93. ISBN 978-94-6252-316-6.

3. ^ "Hai Di Lao, Chinese Hot Pot Chain, Plans To Bring 'Noodle Dance' To The U.S." Huffpost. Huffington Post. 22 May 2013.

4. ^ Lehrmann, Teagan (2015), "Catering Business, Off-Site", The SAGE Encyclopedia of Food Issues, 2455 Teller Road, Thousand Oaks, California 91320: SAGE Publications, Inc., doi:10.4135/9781483346304.n69, ISBN 978-1-4522-4301-6

5. ^ Chiu, Joanne (18 Sep 2018). "Chinese Hot-Pot Chain Serves Up $963 Million IPO; Haidilao's $12 billion market capitalization is bigger than that of Domino's Pizza". Wall Street Journal - via ProQuest.

6. ^ Zhang, Zhiyuan; Xu, Lijuan (July 2016). "The research of service innovation on the base of catering service process - Taking HaiDiLao as an example". 2016 International Conference on Logistics, Informatics and Service Sciences (LISS). Sydney, Australia: IEEE: 1-6. doi:10.1109/LISS.2016.7854470. ISBN 978-1-5090-1102-5. S2CID 18702518.

7. ^ Wang, Jing; Cheng, Lijuan (July 2012). "The relationships among perceived quality, customer satisfaction and customer retention: An empirical research on Haidilao restaurant". Icsssm12. IEEE: 749-754. doi:10.1109/icsssm.2012.6252340. ISBN 978-1-4577-2025-3. S2CID 21408534.

8. Chen, Chen; Shen, Huawen; Fan, Daisy X.F. (2015-07-03). "Hai Di Lao Hot Pot: From Employee Stimulation to Service Innovation". Journal of China Tourism Research. 11 (3): 337-348. doi:10.1080/19388160.2015.1082526. ISSN 1938-8160. S2CID 153842151.

9. Wu, Jing (2018). "Figuring out Zhangyong's Leadership Style by His Way of Handling the Crisis in Haidilao Jinsong and Sun Palace Stores". Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Humanities Science and Society Development (ICHSSD 2017). Paris, France: Atlantis Press. doi:10.2991/ichssd-17.2018.64. ISBN 978-94-6252-440-8.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Haidilao International Holding Ltd., doing business as Haidilao ( Chinese: 海底捞; pinyin: ), is a chain of hot pot restaurants founded in Jianyang, Sichuan, China in 1994. Its restaurants typically operate under the name Haidilao Hot Pot. It is the largest hotpot chain in China which is widespread through spicy broths and special services.

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During the epidemic, Haidilao issued a series of policies.

Before the Spring Festival

January 3rd

Haidilao issued the "early warning notice on the prevention of norovirus and other epidemic diseases in winter" to Chinese stores to remind customers to avoid going out to crowded places.

January 9th

Haidilao asked employees to learn and began to pay continuous attention to the news of unknown pneumonia and the physical state of store employees.

January 23rd

Haidilao released the epidemic prevention knowledge of covid-19, and then Haidilao established the headquarters epidemic prevention and control headquarters.

During the Spring Festival

January 24th

Haidilao requires employees to wear masks to provide services and strengthen the inspection and disinfection of employees and the store environment. Meanwhile, Haidilao has established headquarters in six cities including Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou.

January 25th

Haidilao donated 5 million yuan to the Charity Federation of Hubei Province, and Haidilao has set up several on-site headquarters around the world.

January 26th

Haidilao announced that all stores in mainland China would suspend business from now until January 31, and also suspended all takeout services.

January 27th

Haidilao released the work briefing of Haidilao epidemic prevention and control headquarters, and reserve candidates were set up according to steps in the organizational structure. Haidilao has carried out epidemic prevention and set up a team of epidemic prevention expert consultants.

January 28th

Haidilao once again donated more than 16 tons of fresh vegetables to Wuhan Charity Federation, and Haidilao once again released relevant knowledge on the prevention and symptoms of covid-19.

January 30th

Haidilao announces the production plans of Shuhai and Yihai. Shuhai supply chain, an affiliated company of Haidilao, carried out epidemic prevention and control drills in Beijing.

January 31st

Haidilao announced to extend its business suspension, and the subsequent business hours will be notified separately according to the epidemic development and national regulations. Haidilao publishes the list and division of work of Haidilao epidemic prevention expert consultants, and Haidilao circulates notice of criticism to the relevant responsible persons who have neglected their work during the epidemic prevention period.

After the Spring Festival

February 11th

Haidilao donated 40000 boxes of "self-heating hot pot" to Wuhan Jinyintan hospital and the people's Hospital of Wuhan University. Meanwhile, in order to expand production capacity, the Anhui Yihai factory recruited 30 volunteers.

February 12th

Haidilao donated 20000 boxes of "self-heating hot pot" to the front-line medical staff in Hubei every day.

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Haidilao gains US$696 million value on plan to shut 300 hotpot restaurants

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Hotpot chain gained US$696 million in stock market value, after unveiling a plan to close one-fifth of its restaurants to reduce losses.

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"Substantial price increase"

During the occurrence of covid-19, the catering industry was greatly impacted by the long-term closure. According to the data released by the China National Bureau of statistics on March 16, 2020, China's catering revenue was 419.4 billion yuan from January to February 2020, a year-on-year decrease of 43.1%. With the adjustment of "epidemic prevention and control" emergency response, many citizens began to eat out. However, many people have found that the price rise has come in advance.
For example, Haidilao's signboard "diced shrimp" has increased from 50 yuan to 62 yuan, rice is even 7 yuan a bowl, and the per capita consumption is more than 200 yuan.

Haidilao launched a hot pot takeout service

A Haidilao hot pot restaurant in Chongqing launched a hot pot takeout service. The online order quantity exceeded 30000 within 10 days, with a total sales of nearly 9.5 million.

Haidilao's share price fell

Since the epidemic prevention and control was officially launched on January 20, 2020, the Haidilao stock market has decreased significantly. Although the share price rebounded after the Spring Festival, it still fell by about 4 yuan per share on average compared with that before the epidemic. The fluctuation of Haidilao's share price has become the content of most media reports. As a leading enterprise in the catering industry, Haidilao's stock market performance reflects the overall performance of the catering industry to a certain extent. Starting from the report on the decline of Haidilao's share price, and then analyzing the economic impact of the epidemic on the catering industry has become a hot topic among many media. Many media said that the impact of the epidemic has exacerbated the operating pressure of the catering industry that is already facing "three high and one low" (i.e. high rent, high labor cost, high food material cost, and low gross profit).
Since the beginning of February 2020, Haidilao's stock price has shown an overall upward trend. Many media said that this is due to Haidilao's strong market performance in recent years - continuous expansion in the world, good reputation of consumer groups, and rapid performance growth, which has strengthened the stock market's confidence in Haidilao's future development to a certain extent.

Haidilao analysis estimated the number of losses

On January 26, 2020, in order to better cooperate with the prevention and control of covid-19 and ensure the health and safety of Haidilao customers and employees, Haidilao announced that all stores in mainland China would be closed until January 31, 2020. It is one of the enterprises in the catering industry that responded to the epidemic prevention and control earlier.

On January 31, 2020, Haidilao announced again that it would extend its business suspension time, and the subsequent business resumption time is uncertain. Affected by the "complaint" of "Xibei can not last three months" issued by Jia Guolong, chairman of Xibei, the media began to focus on the specific losses of Haidilao. In view of the fact that Haidilao did not disclose relevant loss data, according to the analysis of Haidilao's performance and various research reports in the first half of 2019, many media believe that during the epidemic period, Haidilao lost about 57.896 million yuan of revenue every day and paid about 20.29 million yuan of employee cost every day.

For Haidilao's decision to suspend business indefinitely, some media analysts believe that this is because Haidilao, which was listed in September 2018, is still in the dividend period of listing, and its cash flow and capital status are good enough to deal with the impact of the current epidemic.

In addition to ranking the epidemic prevention and control measures within the enterprise, Haidilao has also contributed to the social epidemic prevention and control. Among the materials donated by Haidilao at present, in addition to conventional cash and vegetables, Haidilao also donated a large number of self-heating hot pot products produced by itself and announced that from February 12, 2020, it would donate 20000 boxes of self-heating hot pot to the front-line medical staff fighting the epidemic in Hubei every day. Haidilao's move has not only made real contributions to the personnel in the epidemic area, but also improved the public's preference for the brand with the help of public welfare behavior to a certain extent from the perspective of brand publicity, and won benign exposure for its products.

In general, the epidemic prevention and control work-related to Haidilao is more proactive, and the implementation of its work is more efficient. More importantly, its epidemic prevention and control work are relatively difficult to focus on thinking from the perspective of employees, effectively reflect the human feelings in the corporate culture and do not forget to seek medical help to make its prevention and control work more comprehensive and professional.

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Haidilao: Taking Chinese Hotpot to the Next Level

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2.4 COVID-19's impact on Film And Television Institutions

2.4.1 COVID-19's influence on Film And Television Institutions in terms of politics and law

Since January 2020, the film and television industry has been affected by COVID-19 and has taken a series of urgent measures to prevent and control such problems as the nearly full withdrawal of the Chinese New Year movie, the reduction of entertainment programs on TV stations such as Hunan satellite TV, and all kinds of offline entertainment activities.

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Forum Special: Covid-19 and Film industry

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In addition, according to the official wechat account of China Film and Television Production, the Television Production Committee of China Federation of Radio and Television Social Organizations and the Actors' Committee of China Federation of Radio and Television Social Organizations jointly issued a notice on the suspension of filming of Films and TV Series during COVID-19 on February 1, 2020. During the epidemic prevention and control period, all film and television production companies, film and television crews and actors should suspend filming in accordance with the relevant regulations of the state, and if the suspension of filming caused the spread of the epidemic during the period, relevant units will be held responsible.

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Can there be a happy ending for Hollywood after COVID-19?

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The pandemic is accelerating a transformation in movie production, distribution and consumption that was already well underway.

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2.4.2 The impact of COVID-19 on Film And Television Instructions in the ecomomic aspect

On The first day of the Chinese New Year on Jan 25, 2020, the country's box office took in 1.81 million yuan, while in 2019, it raked in 1.45 billion yuan, the highest one-day box office in mainland film history, according to Maoyan Movie Professional Edition. Looking back at the 2019 Spring Festival period, the single-day box office from the second day of the Chinese New Year to the fifth day of the Chinese New Year reached more than 800 million yuan, compared with 2.845 million yuan from the first day to the sixth day of the Chinese New Year in 2020. During the Spring Festival in 2020, cinemas will still screen IP Man 4, Sheep Without A Shepherd, Adoring, which were released at the end of 2019. The three films earned 519,700 yuan, 470,700 yuan and 306,300 yuan, respectively, on the first day of the lunar New Year. According to Maoyan, the Spring Festival box office revenue of 2019, 2018 and 2017 reached 5.859 billion yuan, 5.77 billion yuan and 3.42 billion yuan, accounting for 14.2 percent, 15.2 percent and 11.4 percent of the total box office of domestic films in those three years, respectively. After the outbreak of the epidemic, the Spring Festival, the most important season in 2020, has been collectively withdrawn, which means that the box office revenue in 2020 will also suffer a significant loss. The film and television industry has suffered from the chain impact of the Spring Festival, such as the withdrawal of all lines, the suspension of filming of films and TV dramas, and the reduction of recording of variety shows. All kinds of contracts cannot be performed normally, and it is difficult to recover funds. As a result, many small and medium-sized enterprises have entered the winter, and some film and television institutions have begun to turn from cinema films to network broadcasting to seek self-rescue.

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How COVID-19 is affecting the entertainment industry

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2.4.3 Specific examples of COVID-19's impact on Film And Television Institutions

With the spread of the epidemic and the continuous upgrading of prevention and control measures, the seven films Detective Chinatown 3, Lost in Russia, Legend of Deification, Duo Guan, Vanguard, Boonie Bears, which were originally scheduled to be broadcast in the Spring Festival in 2020, have successively announced their withdrawal from the file since January 23, 2020, which is undoubtedly a major blow to the film market. Each major online ticketing platform will then announce the refund rules. All removed films can be unconditionally refunded in full, and all offline cinemas will be suspended from January 24, 2020. Following the collective withdrawal of Spring Festival films, Valentine's Day films have also been officially withdrawn. At present, more than Valentine's day, the epidemic may cause a long-term gap. Some experts predict that the annual box office of the film market may decrease by nearly 10 billion during the epidemic.

However, some film companies timely adjusted relevant strategic planning during the epidemic and successfully passed the dangerous period. For example, China Beijing zhenledao Culture Communication Co., Ltd. has taken many positive measures to save its own enterprises.

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January 07, 2022

January 06, 2022

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January 05, 2022

Monday, February 22, 2021

Almost a year ago now, the pandemic outbreak disrupted the worldwide entertainment industry - and in particular, film and television production. Similar to the US, European audio-visual productions were halted, movie theaters were closed, events, premieres and entire marketing and distribution campaigns were postponed or cancelled.

Cinemas across the European Union saw a 69.0 % drop in box office numbers in 2020, accounting for a total decrease of €4 billion in revenues compared to 2019 ¹. With movie theaters on the brink of bankruptcy, postponed productions with huge increases in costs (in part due to COVID-19 safety measures), and a consumer attitude that shifted rapidly to online content consumption, the old business models will probably disappear even faster than anticipated.

In order to combat the negative effects of the crisis, the European Union (EU) stepped in with various programs to support the cultural and creative sectors, as well as artists in all of its Member States.

The EU Programs supporting the Industry

a) Creative Europe MEDIA

The main EU instrument to help the entertainment industry is the MEDIA sub-program of Creative Europe ². The program ³ was implemented to provide support and funding opportunities for film and TV projects, cinema networks, film festivals, audience development, training measures for audiovisual professionals, access to markets, distribution, video game development, online distribution, and international co-production funds.

As the COVID-19 pandemic had a particularly disruptive effect on the cultural and creative sectors in Europe, thus severely affecting their capacity to attract funding, the EU has stepped up its financing for the Creative Europe program. For 2021-2027, the planned budget for the whole Creative Europe program will be €2.4 billion, an 80% increase compared to the previous period (i.e., 2014-2020), of which €1.4 billion will be devoted to its MEDIA sub-program ⁴.

b) Recovery and Resilience Facility

The EU has also put in place a Recovery and Resilience Facility ⁵ (the Facility), worth €672 billion (adopted on February 10, 2021). Although the Facility does not earmark funds towards the cultural and creative sectors of the EU, it clearly recognizes (a) the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on these sectors, and (b) the fact that the reduction in their financing can be counterproductive to the swift recovery of the economy as a whole, thus paving the way for additional funding for these sectors.

c) Temporary Framework - State Aid Schemes

To mitigate COVID-19's disruption to the Union's economy, the European Commission adopted a Recovery and Resilience Facility Temporary Framework ⁶ (extended through December 2021 ⁷) to help Member States provide support to the economy through State aid measures such as:

aid in form of direct grants, repayable advances or tax advantages;

aid in the form of guarantees on loans;

aid in the form of subsidized interest rates for loans;

aid in the form of guarantees and loans channeled through credit institutions or other financial institutions;

short term export credit insurance; and

wage subsidies for employees to avoid lay-offs during the pandemic.

For example, according to the information published on European Commission's website ⁸, the Commission approved:

a €120 million French aid scheme to partially compensate sports clubs and organizers of sports events for the loss incurred following administrative measures adopted by the French authorities to limit the spread of the coronavirus;

a €1.9 billion Polish scheme to support companies operating in gastronomy, fitness, fairs, stage, film, entertainment and recreation, photography and physiotherapy;

two Italian schemes, with a total budget of €20 million, to support respectively small book publishers and the music, recording and phonographic industry in the context of the coronavirus outbreak.

Perspective

In part due to COVID-19, digitalization of services became a priority, and the pandemic increased the chances of seeing a transfer of economic power from the old to the new cinema players. Along with the opportunity of reaching out to a large pool of consumers almost instantly comes the challenge of increased competition and the need to develop technology and digital skills to provide new high-quality content in a timely manner. Additional funding sources secured by the EU could be a first step towards the implementation of cutting-edge technology in these sectors.

Like so many other sectors in our global economy, the pandemic has forced Europe's entertainment industry get creative and adapt to a rapidly-evolving new normal. This has manifested in new ways of producing and sharing content with the audience, thereby catering to socially-distanced consumption - including through over-the-top video services. While nothing can replace live and in-person events, the lockdown has spawned new consumer habits, which will likely outlive the pandemic's impact on our daily lives.

For stakeholders considering participating in Europe's entertainment ecosystem, it will be critical to stay abreast of the EU's measures and available programs.

FOOTNTOES

1. https://www.unic-cinemas.org/en/news/news-blog/detail/european-cinema-industry-sees-eur62-billion-box-office-drop-in-2020/

2. https://www.europarl.europa.eu/meetdocs/2014_2019/plmrep/COMMITTEES/CULT/DV/2021/01-11/CreativeEU_agreedtext_EN.pdf

3. https://www.europarl.europa.eu/ftu/pdf/en/FTU_3.6.2.pdf

4. https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/IP_21_104

5. https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/TA-9-2021-0038_EN.html

6. https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/IP_20_496

7. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=uriserv%3AOJ.C_.2021.034.01.0006.01.ENG&toc=OJ%3AC%3A2021%3A034%3AFULL

8. https://ec.europa.eu/info/live-work-travel-eu/coronavirus-response/jobs-and-economy-during-coronavirus-pandemic/state-aid-cases_en

Copyright © 2022, Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP. National Law Review, Volume XI, Number 53

Alina Condurat is an attorney in the Entertainment and Digital Media Practice Group in the firm's Century City office.
Area of Practice
Alina's practice focuses on transactional entertainment matters, including rights acquisition and service agreements for television and motion picture productions. In addition, she handles copyright issues and production clearances.

Alina obtained her LL.M. from Loyola Law School with an emphasis in Intellectual Property. She is currently...

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The EU's Initiative to Redress the Effect of COVID-19 on the Entertainment Industry

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With movie theaters on the brink of bankruptcy, postponed productions with huge increases in costs, and a shift to online content consumption, the old theatre business models will probably disappear quickly. In order to combat negative effects of the crisis, the EU stepped in with various programs.

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China Beijing Zhenledao Culture Communication Co., LTD.

Zhenledao culture is a cultural communication company in China. Headquartered in Chaoyang District, Beijing, it was jointly founded by Xu Zheng, Tao Hong, and Liu Ruifang.

Beijing zhenledao Culture Communication Co., Ltd. was established in 2012. The company's business covers the project development, production, distribution, and marketing of film and television works. He has successfully produced and produced film and television works such as Lost In Hong Kong, Dying To Survive, and My People My Homeland.

Lost in Russia is the third work of the "embarrassing series" directed by Xu Zheng. It is starred by Xu Zheng, Huang Meiying, Yuan Quan, Jia Bing, Guo Jingfei, and Shen Teng. Liu Ruifang is the producer and producer. The movie was broadcast free on January 25, 2020, with TikTok, Today's Headlines, Watermelon Videos, and other online platforms. The total volume of the movie on line three exceeded 600 million. The film tells the story of Xu Yiwan, the boss, who is entangled in family crisis and business disputes, but accidentally gets on the train to Russia with his mother.

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'Lost in Russia' to debut online after coronavirus cancellations

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During the epidemic, Beijing zhenledao Culture Communication Co., Ltd. launched a series of policies.

Snack and beverage innovation to realize the diversified market operation.

Film and television companies have launched e-commerce businesses. Users can buy goods through microblog and WeChat in local studios, such as coffee, fruit juice, ice cream, dried fruit, as well as a combination package of snacks and movie vouchers.

Enable "click broadcast" mode.

In this special spring festival, a total of seven films announced their withdrawal. Lost in Russia, directed by Xu Zheng, premiered free of charge on the first day of the new year on the online platform after the withdrawal of the file. The exploration of this new model has had a great impact on the traditional cinema model.

Xu Zheng is the biggest winner in Lost In Russia because he not only gets benefits but also gets the support and love of the majority of netizens. It can be said that he has both fame and wealth. In the future, online broadcasting replace the traditional film viewing mode, and the cinema should present a new face in the future. Change is imperative.

Customers can save movie tickets by watching movies online for free. They can effectively protect their health and safety and avoid close contact with strangers. Film companies have good ethical standards and gain reputation and wealth.

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Lost In Russia - the first of the big 7 CNY movies for '20 (China 2020) | Review | Zheng Xu | Comedy

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There will be a great space for the development of online movies.

When the cinema was closed, the film "Lost in Russia" was transferred to file for online premiere distribution. In addition, the film "Enter The Fat Dragon", originally planned to be released on February 14, 2020, was also released in iQIYI because it could not be released in domestic cinemas in a short time. The online release of "Lost in Russia" has become a new round of hot spots, and there will be a lot of room for the development of online movies in the future.

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2.5 COVID-19's impact on Educational Institutions

2.5.1 Impact on primary and secondary school institutions

The epidemic has brought a huge impact on China's economy and even the world economy. It has not only affected the national economy, but also the education of primary and secondary school students. The Ministry of Education has called for the suspension of classes during the epidemic and organized online classes for children. But online classes for primary and middle school students have two major harm: Firstly, an online class can not leave electronic devices, mobile phones, computers, and so on, every day to see mobile phone screens affect children's eyesight. Secondly, after all, children have poor self-discipline. They play games and watch Tiktok or videos in class. Thirdly, online classes will face many problems, not all regions and families have access to the Internet. Some families don't even have mobile phones, and they don't necessarily have Internet or WiFi. However, children are the future of the motherland, and schools are crowded places. At present, online classes have become the best way for primary and secondary schools to solve children's learning problems.

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Learners affected by school closures caused by COVID-19 as of February 2021

The COVID-19 pandemic affected educational systems across the world. The number of cases of COVID-19 started to rise in March 2020 and many educational institutions and universities underwent closure. Most countries decided to temporarily close educational institutions in order to reduce the spread of COVID-19. UNESCO estimates that at the height of the closures in April 2020, national educational shutdowns affected nearly 1.6 billion students in 200 countries: 94% of the student population and one-fifth of the global population. Closures are estimated to have lasted for an average of 41 weeks (10.3 months). They have had significant negative effects on student learning, which are predicted to have substantial long-term implications for both education and earnings. During the pandemic, education budgets and official aid program budgets for education have decreased.

The lockdowns have disproportionately affected already disadvantaged students, and students in low and middle income nations. Scarcer education options impacted people with few financial resources, while those with more found education. New online programs shifted the labor of education from schools to families and individuals, and consequently, people everywhere who relied on schools rather than computers and homeschooling had more difficulty. Early childhood education and care as well as school closures impacted students, teachers, and families, and far-reaching economic and societal consequences are expected. School closures shed light on various social and economic issues, including student debt, digital learning, food security, and homelessness, as well as access to childcare, health care, housing, internet, and disability services. The impact was more severe for disadvantaged children and their families, causing interrupted learning, compromised nutrition, childcare problems, and consequent economic cost to families who could not work.

In response to school closures, UNESCO recommended the use of distance learning programmes and open educational applications and platforms that schools and teachers can use to reach learners remotely and limit the disruption of education. In 2020, UNESCO estimated that nearly 24 million will dropout, with South Asia and Western Asia being the most affected.

Efforts to slow the spread of COVID-19 through non-pharmaceutical interventions and preventive measures such as social-distancing and self-isolation have prompted the widespread closure of primary, secondary, and tertiary schooling in over 100 countries.

Previous outbreaks of infectious diseases have prompted widespread school closings around the world, with varying levels of effectiveness. Mathematical models have shown that transmission may be delayed by closing schools. However, effectiveness depends on the contacts children maintain outside of school. School closures appear effective in decreasing cases and deaths, particularly when enacted promptly. If school closures occur late relative to an outbreak, they are less effective and may not have any impact at all. Additionally, in some cases, the reopening of schools after a period of closure has resulted in increased infection rates. As closures tend to occur concurrently with other interventions such as public gathering bans, it can be difficult to measure the specific impact of school closures.

During the 1918-1919 influenza pandemic in the United States, school closures and public gathering bans were associated with lower total mortality rates. Cities that implemented such interventions earlier had greater delays in reaching peak mortality rates. Schools closed for a median duration of 4 weeks according to a study of 43 US cities' response to the Spanish Flu. School closures were shown to reduce morbidity from the Asian flu by 90% during the 1957-58 outbreak, and up to 50% in controlling influenza in the US, 2004-2008.

Multiple countries successfully slowed the spread of infection through school closures during the 2009 H1N1 Flu pandemic. School closures in the city of Oita, Japan, were found to have successfully decreased the number of infected students at the peak of infection; however closing schools was not found to have significantly decreased the total number of infected students. Mandatory school closures and other social distancing measures were associated with a 29% to 37% reduction in influenza transmission rates. Early school closures in the United States delayed the peak of the 2009 H1N1 Flu pandemic. Despite the overall success of closing schools, a study of school closures in Michigan found that "district level reactive school closures were ineffective."

During the swine flu outbreak in 2009 in the UK, in an article titled "Closure of schools during an influenza pandemic" published in the Lancet Infectious Diseases, a group of epidemiologists endorsed the closure of schools in order to interrupt the course of the infection, slow further spread and buy time to research and produce a vaccine. Having studied previous influenza pandemics including the 1918 flu pandemic, the influenza pandemic of 1957 and the 1968 flu pandemic, they reported on the economic and workforce effect school closure would have, particularly with a large percentage of doctors and nurses being women, of whom half had children under the age of 16. They also looked at the dynamics of the spread of influenza in France during French school holidays and noted that cases of flu dropped when schools closed and re-emerged when they re-opened. They noted that when teachers in Israel went on strike during the flu season of 1999-2000, visits to doctors and the number of respiratory infections dropped by more than a fifth and more than two fifths respectively.

Students in Indonesia went back to schools located in low-risk areas on the first day of school in 2021 under tight health protocols after the closure of education facilities for months due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

For schools and childcare facilities, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends short-term closure to clean or disinfect if an infected person has been in a school building regardless of community spread. When there is minimal to moderate community transmission, social distancing strategies can be implemented such as postponing or cancelling field trips, assemblies, and other large gatherings such as physical education or choir classes or meals in a cafeteria, increasing the space between desks, staggering arrival and dismissal times, limiting nonessential visitors, and using a separate health office location for children with flu-like symptoms. When there is substantial transmission in the local community, in addition to social distancing strategies, extended school dismissals may be considered.

The impact on academic integrity has been observed around the world. A rise in contract cheating, academic file-sharing, and exam cheating were identified as particularly problematic. With remote learning, cheating has become far easier for students. There is no remorse from students who would rather succeed in class than learn. Online education has also exposed various as yet unresolved legal issues, including copyright and unapproved misuse of lectures.

Many institutions turned to commercial services to take over exam proctoring, but almost immediately concerns were raised about student privacy, surveillance, and the impact on student mental health.

Due to COVID-19 Students have problems with staying focused, and lose their sense of routine.

Engagement and focus are vital to the learning process but are in poor supply under the regime of online learning. Without in-person interactions with professors and classmates, some students can struggle to focus during class and refrain from asking questions.

Without scheduled times, reminders by the professor and regular conversations with classmates in the lecture hall, it is almost guaranteed that students will fall behind on course readings, content and lecture material.

Students may interpret that lack of structure to mean that they do not have to do anything, or they may find themselves overwhelmed with too much to do and an inability to determine what order to do it in. Some kids excel with this kind of freedom, but many need to have an even stricter structure to their day for them to be able to focus.

The COVID-19 lockdowns has widened the gender gap in education between females and males. The rapid spread of COVID-19 lockdowns forced many females into the traditional roles as caretakers. Common gender disparities that impact a female's education during the pandemic are finances enabling higher dropout rates, domestic violence, child marriage, early pregnancy, and exploitation of child labor. Female caretakers drop out of schools to provide care for sick family members or become a source of income for their families. In settings with gender disparities in rates of school completion, girls are at increased risk of not returning to school after lockdown if tasked with income-generating activities or caretaking or they become pregnant. There is a correlation between increased unemployment rates with higher female school dropout rates. Malala Fund research estimates that as a result of the pandemic, 20 million girls in developing countries may never return to the classroom. Consequently, there is a decreased level of women returning to school, particularly in nations with poverty. Out of the total population of students enrolled in education globally, UNESCO reported as of 31 March 2020 that over 89% were out of school because of COVID-19 closures. This represented 1.54 billion children, and youth enrolled in school or university, including nearly 743 million girls. During the pandemic, females attending school reported encountering technical challenges with remote learning. Using data from the National Study STEM faculty and students (NSSFS) collected 2020, the report describes gender disparities in experiences of transitioning to remote teaching/learning among US STEM faculty and students. According to the survey, females reported higher technical challenges in remote learning against their male counterparts. The two main areas that females found challenging in remote learning were adaptability to the course design and transitioning from face-to-face school to remote online learning curriculums. Countries with poverty reported increased gender disparities as families could not afford internet usage in low-income households to pay for female education. Additionally, there was a preference in male over female education as they were seen as sole providers. Over 111 million of these girls are living in the world's least developed countries where getting an education is already a struggle. These are contexts of extreme poverty, economic vulnerability, and crisis where gender disparities in education are highest. In Mali, Niger, and South Sudan - 3 countries with some of the lowest enrolment and completion rates for girls - closures have forced over 4 million girls out of school. The broadened gap in gender disparities impacts female education that will exceed beyond the pandemic and seep into their futures. There have been several efforts by UNESCO and other organizations to raise funds for female education, but due to the financial hardships of the pandemic, those efforts have fallen short. Lack of government involvement in the issue and inability to address the increasing concerns of gender disparities in education during the pandemic has limited educational opportunities for females globally.

26 January: China was the first country which instituted measures to contain the COVID-19 outbreak including extending the Spring Festival holiday and became the first to close all universities and schools around the country.

4 March: UNESCO released the first global numbers on school closures and affected students on 3 March. It reported that 22 countries on three continents had enacted preventive measures including the temporary closure of schools and universities, impacting 290.5 million students around the world. In reaction, UNESCO called on countries to support affected students and families and facilitate large-scale inclusive distance learning programmes.

5 March: The majority of learners affected by COVID-19 emergency measures were located in China, with 233 million learners affected, followed by Japan at 16.5 million and Iran at 14.5 million.

10 March: One in five students worldwide was "staying away from school due to the COVID-19 crisis" while another one in four was barred from higher education institutions, according to UNESCO.

13-16 March: National governments in 49 countries announced or implemented school closures on 13 March, including 39 countries which closed schools nationwide and 22 countries with localised school closures. By 16 March, this figure increased to 73 countries according to UNESCO.

19 March: A total of 50% of the students worldwide were affected by school closures, corresponding to nationwide closures in 102 countries and local closures in 11 countries affecting 1 billion people.

20 March: Over 70% of the world's learners were impacted by closures, with 124 country-wide school closures.

27 March: Nearly 90% of the world's student population was out of class.

29 March: More than 1.5 billion children and other students were affected by nationwide school closures. Others were disrupted by localized closures.

Mid-April: A total of 1.58 billion students globally had been affected by the closure of schools and higher education institutions in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Based on UNESCO Monitoring Reports, 200 countries implemented national closures, affecting about 94% of the world's student population. The percentage of students affected was as high as 99% for low and lower-middle income countries.

30 June: The CDC revised its guidelines for institutes of primary, secondary, and tertiary education, in which it expressly did not recommend the universal testing of students and staff. Rather, the CDC only recommended testing people who are exhibiting COVID-19 symptoms or who have come into contact with a known COVID-19 case.

Countries and territories

Number of learners enrolled from pre-primary to upper-secondary education

Number of learners enrolled in tertiary education programmes

Additional information

520,759

131,833

Schools were closed for two weeks.

428,099

95,142

Both schools and universities are closed. Primary schools until the 4th grade reopened on 1 September. Secondary schools reopened 2 weeks after but returned online in October 2020 until further notice.

25,017,635

1,625,578

On 16 March, all schools were closed at the provincial and territorial level with the exception of British Columbia and Yukon. However, Yukon schools began their spring break 16 March and on 18 March 2020 the closure was extended until 15 April 2020. On 17 March, K-12 schools in British Columbia were suspended indefinitely. All educational institutions were closed by late March. Following the summer break, all schools reopened for the next school year.

3,652,100

1,238,992

Chilean President Sebastian Pinera announced that schools across the country would only close if confirmed cases of coronavirus occur among students.

23,157,420

2,914,473

Grades from 1st primary to 3rd preparatory will do researches from home.

1st and 2nd secondary grades will take their exam from home, while 3rd secondary students will take their exam as usual in schools

1,414,326

190,519

Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele ordered all schools to close for three weeks, following similar measures in Peru and Panama.

421,329

32,565

All schools and universities will be physically closed at least until June 2020. On 19 April 2020, one month after the first case was confirmed, the Ministry of Education confirmed that all primary and secondary schools will begin a transition to online learning across all grades, with online classes to start from 4 May 2020. All universities have already transitioned to online learning and began classes from 2 April 2020.

233,169,621

42,266,464

As the country of origin of the virus, China was the first country to mandate school closures. Following the Spring Festival holiday, China asked its nearly 200 million students to stay home and continue their educations online. According to UNESCO, China started reopening schools on March.

See also:

1,469,505

735,027

Both schools and universities were closed for two months. They reopened again on May. The new school year began on 14 September, with mandatory wearing of face masks for students from nursery school up to high school. However, on 6 November middle and high schools closed again due to a second national lockdown, with primary schools and kindergartens closing as well one week later.

286,376,216

34,337,594

On 16 March, India declared a countrywide lock-down of schools and colleges. On 19 March, the University Grants Commission asked universities to postpone exams until 31 March. The board exams conducted by CBSE and ICSE boards were postponed until 31 March at first and then later until July. Online learning was encouraged, despite the fact that pre-COVID, only a quarter of households (24 per cent) in India had access to the internet and there is a large rural-urban and gender divide. By April 2021 almost all States had opened schools.

60,228,569

8,037,218

Schools and universities are closed. Students study from home with online educational applications, such as Google Classroom. Minister of Education and Culture of Indonesia, Nadiem Makarim launched an educational TV block on TVRI and has prepared for the scenario to study online until the end of the year.

14,561,998

4,073,827

On 23 February, Iran's Ministry of Health announced the closure of universities, higher educational institutions and schools in several cities and provinces. Iran's education ministry developed an online system to continue teaching at schools named Shaad.

16,496,928

-

On 27 February 2020, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe requested that all Japanese elementary, junior high, and high schools close until early April to help contain the virus. This decision came days after the education board of Hokkaido called for the temporary closure of its 1,600 public and private schools. Nursery schools were excluded from the nationwide closure request. As of 5 March, 98.8 per cent of all municipally run elementary schools have complied with Abe's request, resulting in 18,923 school closures.

13,751,830

562,521

NAIROBI, Kenya 26 Apr - Kenyan schools will remain closed for the next one month, following a directive by the government in measures aimed at preventing the spread of coronavirus.

On 30 May, Education CS says schools should remain closed after receiving a National Response Committee report. He added the government will provide proper guidelines when the time is right to open schools. The report however recommends school's should be opened in September and students in Standard 8 and Form 4 should do their national examinations in February 2021.

460,257

125,863

Nurseries are closed. Schools, colleges and universities implement distance learning.

33,159,363

4,430,248

Several universities, including the UNAM and Tec de Monterrey, switched to virtual classes on 13 March 2020. The following day, the Secretariat of Public Education (SEP) announced that all sporting and civic events in schools would be cancelled. Also on 14 March, the Secretariat of Education announced that Easter break, originally planned from 6 to 17 April, would be extended from 20 March to 20 April as a preventive measure. The following day, 14 March, the Secretariat of Public Education (SEP) announced that all sporting and civic events in schools would be cancelled. Also on 14 March, the Secretariat of Education announced that Easter break, originally planned from 6 to 17 April, would be extended from 20 March to 20 April as a preventive measure. On the same day the Autonomous University of Nuevo León, (UANL) (the country's third largest university in terms of student population) suspended classes for its more than 206,000 students starting on 17 March and ending until further notice.

689,520

56,046

All schools were closed on 14 March 2020. Although this does not automatically apply to universities, they also suspended face-to-face teaching. Reopening of schools is only planned for "stage 3" of the plan to return to normalcy which is to come into effect on 2 June.

24,861,728

3,589,484

Both schools and universities are closed since 16 March 2020. Students study at home either online or module learning. The country has adopted a distance learning system - a mix of online classes, printed modules, and TV/radio lessons - following President Rodrigo Duterte's directive to suspend in-person classes until a COVID-19 vaccine became widely available.

In-person classes reopened on 5 November 2021, in low-risk areas for colleges and universities, with a 50% class size limit. A trial for in-person classes for elementary and high schools began on 15 November 2021 for 100 public schools. Schools and universities had been fully reopened in all in-person classes since 2 November 2022.

2,951,879

-

Schools were closed due to the pandemic from 11 March to 13 September 2020; 9 November 2020 - 7 February 2021; 2 April-4 May 2021 (prolonged spring break). Distance learning during school closures was optional until late April 2020.

-

-

On 14 March, the Russian Ministry of Education advised schools across the country to adopt remote learning "as appropriate." The Moscow region introduced flexible attendance policies at area public schools and kindergartens, however all regular classes at schools would continue normally and children who elected to stay home at their parents discretion would learn online. The following day private schools in Moscow were urged to suspend operations for two weeks while several schools located within foreign embassies in Moscow were advised to enter a two-week quarantine. Moscow's chief sanitary doctor signed a decree banning visitors to boarding schools and orphanages. On 16 March, Moscow extended measures to closing public schools, universities, athletic schools and supplemental education institutions from 21 March to 12 April. Quarantine in all Russian schools since 23 March.

13,496,529

1,116,017

President Cyril Ramaphosa declared a national disaster in response to the COVID-19 outbreak and closed all schools until the end of South Africa's Easter holiday. On 16 March, the Minister of Higher Education, Science and Innovation is announced official measures impacting university and colleges across the country in response to a student at Wits University in Johannesburg who tested positive for coronavirus.

4,917,578

300,794

The government ordered to close schools from 12 March to 20 April which also marks the end of the first term. The private tuition classes and tutorials are also closed for two weeks until 26 March.

17,702,938

7,198,987

Online-only learning since 23 March

Education involving tuition or field work was postponed.

Holidays were extended in all secondary schools until 6 April of Turkmenistan. An order signed by the Ministry of Education as a preventative measure aims to prevent the spread of respiratory diseases in connection with the WHO coronavirus pandemic.

Educations involving tuition and/or field work are postponed.

It was announced on 18 March that all UK schools would close by the 20th (the end of that working week) for all but the most vulnerable children and pupils whose parents were working in fields considered particularly important to the anti coronavirus effort.

6,866,822

President Nicholas Maduro issued a "collective quarantine" in seven states in Venezuela and suspended school and university classes.

Australia has not closed schools or universities in line with advice from the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee.

Some private and independent schools have chosen to close.

On 22-23 March, the state governments of Victoria and the Australian Capital Territory contradicted federal government advice by enacting school closures, while the New South Wales state government encouraged students to stay home from school if possible. Many universities closed temporarily and transitioned to online learning.

COVID-19 pandemic in Australia

As of 16 March, Brazil has more confirmed cases of coronavirus than any other Latin American country, however President Jair Bolsonaro has issued few country-wide measures to slow the spread of the virus. Because the president and federal government failed to act regarding the pandemic and had, as of 18 March, not decided to cancel classes in the whole country, lower instances of government acted autonomously. State schools, municipal schools, private institutions and universities acted differently regarding suspending classes at once, gradually or not at all, and between replacing classes with distance education or simply postponing them. Because of that, there are only "localised" (as opposed to "national") school closures, as of 20 March, according to UNESCO.

States such as São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Pernambuco have cancelled classes in state schools, but some municipal schools continue having classes normally even in those states. Minas Gerais state initially cancelled classes for public schools between for only three days and on 18 March, the state governor announced that classes in the region of the state capital Belo Horizonte were cancelled indefinitely, because there was confirmed community transmission in the region, but the rest of the state would continue having classes normally until further notice.

In São Paulo, classes are being cancelled gradually, so that parents had time to come up with solutions that didn't involve letting the kids be with their grandparents. Between 16 and 20 March, students could go to class, but absentees would not be penalised. Classes were indefinitely cancelled starting on 23 March.

Regarding the food safety of students, some municipal and state schools announced "food kits" for weekly pickup such as in Recife or that some selected schools would remain open for students to have lunch, such as in Espírito Santo.

In higher education, Unicamp was the first university of the country to cancel all classes, stating on 13 March. Initially, classes were cancelled until 31 March, but later the university extended the suspension until 12 April. On 11 March, one student of USP was confirmed with the disease, leading one department to cancel classes for a single day, and it wasn't until 17 March that the whole university cancelled classes. Many universities across the country cancelled classes, such as UFV (since 16 March) and UNILA (since 17 March), but others remain open.

In the city of São Paulo, which is home to half of Brazil's 120,000 Jews, Jewish schools have closed and some are providing class remotely over video. In Rio de Janeiro, Jewish day schools also closed in the absence of a state-wide decision regarding the closure of Rio's public and private schools.

COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil

Pre-primary education and grades 1-3 will continue for the children of parents working in sectors critical to the functioning of society, as well as for children with special needs from pre-primary to upper secondary education. Early Childhood Education and Care will be provided for all children, whose parents are unable to arrange their care at home. In other levels of education, contact teaching can continue, if considered necessary for the completion of studies.

COVID-19 pandemic in Finland

Schools have mainly remained open during the pandemic. However, on March 17, 2020, the Swedish government declared that high schools, vocational schools and Universities should close, and instead recommended continuing lectures by distance education. Already after the summer breaks, however, Swedish high schools reopened, as the negative impact of school closures were assessed as outweighing the potential benefits. Universities and other adult educational forms were referred to the general recommendations that applied for the society.

COVID-19 pandemic in Sweden

United States

As of 10 April 2020, most American public and private elementary and secondary schools-at least 124,000-had stopped in-person instruction nationwide, affecting at least 55.1 million students. By 2 May, school buildings had been ordered or recommended to be closed for the remainder of the academic year in 47 states, four territories, and the District of Columbia. Most schools shifted to online learning; however, there are concerns about student access to necessary technology, absenteeism, and accommodations for special needs students. School systems also looked to adjust grading scales and graduation requirements to mitigate the disruption caused by the unprecedented closures.

A large number of higher educational institutions cancelled classes and closed dormitories in response to the outbreak, including all members of the Ivy League, and many other public and private universities across the country. Many universities also expanded the use of pass/fail grading for the Spring 2020 semester. On 27 March, President Donald Trump signed the CARES Act, which includes economic relief for student loan borrowers. The Act placed all federally held student loans into forbearance with no interest to be added through 30 September 2020.

Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States

Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on education in the United States

As of 14 March, Uruguay will only close schools in case of registered cases of coronavirus among students.

The University of the Republic cancelled classes on 13 March 2020, and the government announced a two-week suspension of classes at public and private schools on Saturday, 14 March. Schools were to remain open to provide meals to students, but without classes.

COVID-19 pandemic in Uruguay

All pre-primary, primary and lower secondary schools in Vietnam; and all upper-secondary institutions in multiple cities and provinces were closed.

COVID-19 pandemic in Vietnam

School closures in response to the COVID-19 pandemic have shed a light on numerous issues affecting access to education, as well as broader socio-economic issues. As of 12 March, more than 370 million children and youth are not attending school because of temporary or indefinite country wide school closures mandated by governments in an attempt to slow the spread of COVID-19. As of 29 March, nearly 90% of the world's learners were impacted by closures.

Even when school closures are temporary, it carries high social and economic costs. The disruptions they cause affect people across communities, but their impact is more severe for disadvantaged children and their families including interrupted learning, compromised nutrition, childcare problems and consequent economic cost to families who cannot work. According to Studi Economici Dell'Ocse (OECD) studies, school performance hinges critically on maintaining close relationships with teachers. This is particularly true for students from disadvantaged backgrounds, who may not have the parental support needed to learn on their own. Working parents are more likely to miss work when schools close in order to take care of their children, incurring wage loss in many instances and negatively impacting productivity. Localised school closures place burdens on schools as parents and officials redirect children to schools that are open.

It is also highly likely that the COVID-19 pandemic and school closures will further exacerbate the learning crisis occurring across the globe.

A math distance lesson over a video conference during the COVID-19 pandemic in Russia

Online learning has become a critical lifeline for education, as institutions seek to minimize the potential for community transmission. Technology can enable teachers and students to access specialized materials well beyond textbooks, in multiple formats and in ways that can bridge time and space. Digital media in education can take many forms, including high-tech solutions such as tablet-based adaptive learning software or low-tech solutions such as radio, sms, and instructional television. Teachers may operate in dual mode, teaching local and remote learners simultaneously.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many schools across the world began conducting classes via videotelephony software such as Zoom, Google Classroom and/or Google Meet. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development has created a framework to guide an education response to the COVID-19 pandemic for distance learning. Whenever this was possible, the ability to teach in real time significantly helped educators handle the transition, in comparison with their colleagues who had to rely on asynchronous instruction. In addition, studies have shown that online learning led to more proactive learning strategies for students, rather than passive learning at the urging of a teacher. By examining students' online learning behaviors, including student practices, students' perceptions of social belonging, and perceptions of the online learning learning climate, the results suggest that successful online learning can be achieved through a positive learning climate and strategies, as positive learning strategies create communication between students and between students and teachers.

Some online learning solutions like Coursera expanded their accessibility by offering more free online courses during the pandemic.

Unequal access to technology

Lack of access to technology or fast, reliable internet access can prevent students in rural areas and from disadvantaged families. Lack of access to technology or good internet connectivity is an obstacle to continued learning, especially for students from disadvantaged families. Teachers have reported that students are more likely to complete assignments if they have access to internet at home. In response to school closures caused by COVID-19, UNESCO recommends the use of distance learning programmes and open educational applications and platforms that schools and teachers can use to reach learners remotely and limit the disruption of education. However, in regions where online learning is not feasible, due to a lack of access to distance learning tools such as smart phones and internet connectivity, some parents have resorted to child labor or early marriage as a means to cope with the financial stress placed on them by the pandemic.

Yale economist Fabrizio Zilibotti co-authored a January 2022 study with professors from the University of Pennsylvania, Northwestern University and the University of Amsterdam, showing that unequal access to technology during "the pandemic is widening educational inequality and that the learning gaps created by the crisis will persist."

Lack of limitations and exceptions to copyright can also have an impact on the ability of students to access the textbooks and materials they need to study. Several initiatives were taken to grant that students and teachers can have access to open educational resources, or understand copyright limitations. The International Council for Open and Distance Education issued a special website to provide webinars, tips for online teaching and resources for teachers.

In New Zealand, a group of publishers agreed to allow for virtual public readings of their materials from libraries and classrooms. A similar agreement took place in Australia, where the Australian Publishers Association, the Australian Library and Information Association and the Australian Society of Authors agreed on a set of exceptional measures to allow libraries to provide educational content. The Australian organization AMCOS agreed to give a gratis license for all their music sheets to all schools across Australia.

A coalition of over 500 civil society organizations and individuals issued a letter to Francis Gurry, Director of the World Intellectual Property Organization, asking, among other things, a special set of limitations and exceptions to copyright for the duration of the pandemic.

Several organizations are also working to explain to teachers how to navigate complex copyright scenarios. The National Copyright Unit of Australia, a specialist copyright team responsible for copyright policy and administration for Australian schools and TAFE, issued a set of recommendations to follow on copyright issues while doing remote learning and a set of recommendations for using openly licensed content, specially aimed to parents supporting students. Centrum Cyfrowe in Poland is holding open calls to support the work of teachers and educators leading in the open education sector. The Program on Information Justice and Intellectual Property at the American University is holding a set of webinars for different educators to guide them through copyright issues when delivering online teaching and how to address best practices for fair use.

Many working mothers dropped out of the labor force to take care of their children during school closures and online learning. In places where part-time school attendance or fully virtual learning is implemented, working parents are typically left with a choice of either arranging childcare or to stop working during days when their children are not at school. However, childcare is often difficult to find or unaffordable, due to its increased demand and closures of daycare centers during the pandemic, making it not a viable option for many parents.

Due to the difficulty of securing accommodations and flexibility from their employers to allow them to take care of their children, women in the United States, particularly Black and Latina women, have lost a disproportionate share of jobs since the beginning of the pandemic. These include forced attritions from women being unable to meet their productivity goals, and voluntary resignations from women who face too much pressure from managing both their paid and unpaid responsibilities. In many cases, women in the workforce were unable to afford private childcare, hence necessitating them to take a leave of absence from work or resigning from their job. A spring 2021 academic study suggested that a much larger proportion of mothers left the workforce in US states where schools offered primarily remote education. Between February 2020 and 2021, more than 2.3 million women in the US have left the labor force. In January 2021, only 57% of American women participated in the labor force, the lowest rate in 33 years.

A study from Washington University in St. Louis found that mothers have reduced their paid working hours four to five times more than fathers from February to April 2020, which widened the gender gap in working hours by a maximum of 50%. According to authors of the study, the disparity may lead to droves of women leaving the workforce and massive layoffs for women. Betsey Stevenson, an economist at the University of Michigan, warned that the exodus of women from the workforce during the pandemic may lead to long-term impacts in women's labor market outcomes. Because working hours are a major cause of the gender pay gap, and periods of non-employment has adverse impacts on future earnings and job mobility, experts warn that the pandemic-induced reduction can set women's advancement back for decades.

In the United States, school lunch programmes are the second-biggest anti-hunger initiative after food stamps. Every year, nearly 30 million children rely on schools to provide free or low-cost meals including breakfast, lunch, snacks, and even dinner. In Washington State, around 45% of the states 1.1 million students enrolled in traditional public and charter schools qualify for subsidised school meals. At least 520,000 students and their families may be affected by food insecurity as a result of school closures. In Alabama, where state-wide school closures as of 18 March have affected over 720,000 students, the state Superintendent announced that staff in schools disproportionately affected by poverty would create meal distribution networks to provide food for students who rely on school lunches.

Many families with low income qualify for school lunch programs funded by the federal government and subsidized at the state level. Due to this need in our society, schools are required to stay open amid the COVID-19 crisis to provide meals to children who qualify for free or reduced rate meals. School have become creative and they send out a weekly survey to reach every student who will need a free or reduced lunch.

In the UK, footballer Marcus Rashford pushed the government to extend free school meals over the summer holidays in August. It was voted out at first, by 61 votes. However, in a U-turn, Boris Johnson's government changed it and agreed to carry on paying. Rashford was given an MBE for his efforts.

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Student taking an online class in the US

Students gain literacy slower during school closures than in a business-as-usual academic year. It has been estimated that the rate of reading ability gain in kindergarten children in the U.S. slows down by 66% during school closures compared to active schooling. A recent study of the effect of the 2005 Kashmir Earthquake found that school closures of an average of 14 weeks has resulted in affected children being 1.5 to 2 years behind their peers who were unaffected by the disaster and its resulting school closures. In practical terms, this learning loss could result in affected children earning 15% less in every adult year of their lives.

The predicted reading ability gain before, during, and after COVID-19 related school closures[9]

The effect of school closure on COVID-19 cases and mortality has been examined in multiple studies.

In a study that looked specifically at school closure in the United States, closure of schools was associated with 1.37 million fewer cases and 40,600 fewer deaths from COVID-19 in a six-week study period. However, two international studies examining the impact of reopening schools from kindergarten to grade 12 found no consistent relationship between the reopening of these schools and the spread of COVID-19, with another study from the United States showing no increased risk to childcare workers who continued to work. Other studies that looked at multiple policy changes have shown more modest changes associated with school closure.

Formal education - as opposed to informal education or non-formal education - tends to refer to schools, colleges, universities and training institutions. A 1974 report by the World Bank defined formal education as the following:

Formal education: the hierarchically structured, chronologically graded "education system", running from primary school through the university and including, in addition to general academic studies, a variety of specialised programmes and institutions for full-time technical and professional training.

The majority of data collected on the number of students and learners impacted by COVID-19 has been calculated based on the closure of formal education systems. The UNESCO Institute for Statistics provides figures on students impacted by COVID-19 corresponding to the number of learners enrolled at pre-primary, primary, lower-secondary, and upper-secondary levels of education ( ISCED levels 0 to 3), as well as at tertiary education levels (ISCED levels 5 to 8). On average, teachers in K-primary schools were coping worse with the transition than high school educators and university instructors.

Playground at a Seattle elementary school is closed due to the epidemic on 25 March 2020.

Early childhood educational programmes are usually designed for children below the age of 3 and may refer to preschools, nursery schools, kindergartens, and some day care programmes. While many primary and secondary schools have closed around the world due to COVID-19, measures impacting early childhood educational programmes have varied. In some countries and territories for instance in Australia preschools and day cares are considered necessary services and have not closed in tandem with broader school closure measures.

In the United States, the Washington State Department of Children, Youth, and Families encouraged child care and early learning centres to stay open. Some school districts may offer alternative child care options, prioritising the children of first responders and healthcare workers. The governor of Maryland mandated that specific child care services remain open for the children of emergency personnel while Washington State and California have left it to the discretion of care providers. California Governor Gavin Newsom explained his state's position, saying "We need our child care facilities, our daycare centers, to operate to absorb the impact of these school closures." Colorado has encouraged the development of "tool kits" for parents to use at home to emulate the lessons children would have received in their early learning programmes. Over a million eligible American children were not enrolled in kindergarten for the 2021-2022 school year. The 2022 annual Report on the Condition of Education conducted by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) for the U.S. Department of Education indicates that, during 2019 to 2020, there was a 13% decrease in enrollment for eligible students aged three and four, from 54% to 40%.

In Japan, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe closed all schools throughout the country until 8 April, however, children's daycare facilities were excluded. In early March, five adults associated with a nursing facility for preschool children in Kobe tested positive for coronavirus. After testing over one hundred children at the facility, a preschool student was found to be carrying the virus.

An empty classroom in closed elementary school due to COVID-19 in Kikinda, Serbia

Primary or elementary education typically consists of the first four to seven years of formal education. Kindergarten is the first time children participate in formal education. Based on a comparison of longitudinal literacy data in kindergarten-aged students during a spring semester of schooling versus during summer vacation, one study predicted that COVID-19 school closures would slow the rate of literacy ability gain by 66% in kindergarten children in the absence of mitigating alternative educational strategies. The study estimates that over an 8-month period from 1 January to 1 September 2020, assuming school closures from 16 March to 1 September 2020 (and taking into account the summer vacation that would have still normally taken place during that time), that these kindergarten children would have gained 31% less literacy ability on average than if school closures had not occurred. In the United States, there was a 6% decrease in kindergarten enrollment rates for the 2019 - 2020 school year for those aged five, dropping from 91% to 84%.

In the United States, standardized tests for college admissions that are taken near the end of secondary education, such as the SAT and ACT, have adapted to administer in person exams at lower capacity and obeying precautionary measures. Online proctoring has also been explored as a method of making the test more accessible. An online edition of the TOEFL exam is now available for students to take at home. Additionally, many colleges and universities have moved away from requiring standardized tests for admissions, or making the requirement optional.

The International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO) cancelled the examinations for its Diploma Programme and Career-related Programme candidates scheduled between 30 April and 22 May 2020, reportedly affecting more than 200,000 students worldwide. The IBO stated that it would award candidates their diplomas or certificates based on "their coursework" and "the established assessment expertise, rigor, and quality control already built into the programme." College Board has begun offering both in person and online testing for Advanced Placement exams in the 2020-2021 school year.

One effect of the COVID-19 outbreak in the United States has come in the form of increases in private school enrollment. Many parents seeking out private school instruction need a place to send their child due to the parents need to work outside of the home. Despite the high cost of private schools, parents find that the tuition cost to be worth it.

However, the IBO came under heavy criticism worldwide for their methods in calculating the students' final grades and their "Enquiry upon results" (EUR) strategy after results were released on 6 July 2020. Consequently, many students not only received much lower grades than what they were predicted to by their teachers but also missed the entrance requirements to every university they applied to, affecting approximately 170,000 students in 153 countries. As a result, petitions that garnered dozens of thousands of signatures were created online with the hashtag "IBSCANDAL" becoming viral, schools and people have lost confidence with the education company and are considering other alternatives for secondary education, and educational reforms are being suggested where students will deviate away from taking significant examinations in the future.

Tertiary education, also known as higher education, refers to the non-compulsory educational levels that follow completion of secondary school or high school. Tertiary education is normally taken to include undergraduate and postgraduate education, as well as vocational education and training. Individuals who complete tertiary education generally receive certificates, diplomas, or academic degrees.

For higher education, the preparation of the future workforce is a key priority. Many occupations rely on education that has been supported through campus-focused activities such as face-to-face interactions with other students, work-integrated learning, and further hands-on exercises. For example, the healthcare workforce of doctors, nurses, and allied health professionals have been trained by in-person observations - similar to the apprenticeship model. In-person education has been shown to create stronger student-tutor and student-student interactions and relationships, which can promote better engagement. With COVID-19 and the pivot to distance learning, a similar level of depth is highly difficult to achieve. More evidence on feasibility, benefits, and obstacles is needed to analyze the drivers of economic impact for the various types of initiatives introduced in online education.

Undergraduate education

Undergraduate education is education conducted after secondary education and prior to post-graduate education, for which the learner is typically awarded a bachelor's degree.

The closure of colleges and universities has widespread individual, organizational, and learning and teaching implications for students, faculty, administrators, and the institutions themselves. The initial period of rapid adaption during 2020 contained three primary responses to COVID-19: minimal legal response, delayed commencement of study periods, and rapid digitalization of curriculum. Thoughts about what to make of this situation resulted in optional learning online or in person depending on what the university declared as being mandatory.

Colleges and universities across the United States have been called upon to issue refunds to students for the cost of tuition and room and board.

While $6 billion in emergency relief is to be made available to students during the pandemic, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos decided on 21 April 2020 that it will only be made available to those students who are also already eligible for federal financial aid. This rule will exclude tens of thousands of undocumented students who participate in the government's Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA, or "Dreamers") program from being able to receive emergency relief funds.

Impact on local economies

In the United States of America, colleges and universities operate as "mini-cities" which generate significant revenue for cities, states, and regions. For example, Princeton University estimated in 2017 that it contributed $1.58 billion USD per year to the New Jersey economy, and that students spent about $60 million in off-campus spending. College and university closures have a domino effect on economies with far-reaching implications.

In March, Linda Bilmes of the Harvard Kennedy School noted that "local hotels, restaurants, cafes, shops, car rental agencies and other local businesses obtain a significant share of annual revenue from graduation week and college reunions... these communities will suffer a lot of economic damage if the colleges remain closed at that time."

Small towns which rely on college students to support the local economy and provide labour to local businesses are especially impacted by school closures and the exodus of students from campus. In Ithaca, New York, Cornell University students spent at least $4 million a week in Tompkins County. In the wake of Cornell's decision to keep students home following spring break and transition to virtual instruction, the Mayor of Ithaca called for "immediate and forceful federal action - we will see a horrific economic impact as a result of Cornell University closing."

International students have contributed to various aspects of education such as diversity, research, cultural enrichment, and economics. They often pay a higher price for education and face higher risks without governmental and administrative protection in times of crisis. COVID-19 is such a time.

During the COVID-19 lockdowns, international students face disadvantages compared to nationals. This was mainly due to immigration-related governmental decisions of "border-closings, drastic visa, and immigration policy changes" (Mbous et al., 2022). International students had a higher rate of mental and depressive disorders compared to local students.

The pandemic forced changes in lifestyle. The most important change is the use of technology, with an increase in computer screen time. Consequently, it leads to an increase in utility consumption. However, international students were not eligible for government's financial support. In addition, the health care cost for international students in the U.S. was significantly higher than American citizens and residents. This healthcare-related financial burden became more significant during a health emergency such as COVID-19, causing international students extra financial stress and concerns.

Changes in academic style were the opposite of what international students expect from an American education. The lack of in-person peer interaction and social and professional networks, and limited access to in-school resources and amenities all diminished the quality of students' lives and work. International students had to adapt to these academic obstacles on top of the usual challenges during normal times.

Decrease Percentage in 2020 compared to 2019

Active Internation Students SEVIS record

17.86%

New International Students Enrollment in U.S. Schools

79%

Number of Enrolled International Students in the U.S. K-12 Program

24.6%

"America-First" policy

Digital assignment during COVID-19 pandemic in a Texas public school

UNESCO made ten recommendations for engaging in online learning:

1. Examine the readiness and choose the most relevant tools: Decide on the use high-technology and low-technology solutions based on the reliability of local power supplies, internet connectivity, and digital skills of teachers and students. This could range through integrated digital learning platforms, video lessons, MOOCs, to broadcasting through radios and TVs.

2. Ensure inclusion of the distance learning programmes: Implement measures to ensure that students including those with disabilities or from low-income backgrounds have access to distance learning programmes, if only a limited number of them have access to digital devices. Consider temporarily decentralising such devices from computer labs to families and support them with internet connectivity.

3. Protect data privacy and data security: Assess data security when uploading data or educational resources to web spaces, as well as when sharing them with other organisations or individuals. Ensure that the use of applications and platforms does not violate students' data privacy.

4. Prioritize solutions to address psychosocial challenges before teaching: Mobilize available tools to connect schools, parents, teachers, and students with each other. Create communities to ensure regular human interactions, enable social caring measures, and address possible psychosocial challenges that students may face when they are isolated.

5. Plan the study schedule of the distance learning programmes: Organise discussions with stakeholders to examine the possible duration of school closures and decide whether the distance learning programme should focus on teaching new knowledge or enhance students' knowledge of prior lessons. Plan the schedule depending on the situation of the affected zones, level of studies, needs of students needs, and availability of parents. Choose the appropriate learning methodologies based on the status of school closures and home-based quarantines. Avoid learning methodologies that require face-to-face communication.

6. Provide support to teachers and parents on the use of digital tools: Organise brief training or orientation sessions for teachers and parents as well, if monitoring and facilitation are needed. Help teachers to prepare the basic settings such as solutions to the use of internet data if they are required to provide live streaming of lessons.

7. Blend appropriate approaches and limit the number of applications and platforms: Blend tools or media that are available for most students, both for synchronous communication and lessons, and for asynchronous learning. Avoid overloading students and parents by asking them to download and test too many applications or platforms.

8. Develop distance learning rules and monitor students' learning process: Define the rules with parents and students on distance learning. Design formative questions, tests, or exercises to monitor closely students' learning process. Try to use tools to support submission of students' feedback and avoid overloading parents by requesting them to scan and send students' feedback

9. Define the duration of distance learning units based on students' self-regulation skills: Keep a coherent timing according to the level of the students' self-regulation and metacognitive abilities especially for livestreaming classes. Preferably, the unit for primary school students should not be more than 20 minutes, and no longer than 40 minutes for secondary school students.

10. Create communities and enhance connection: Create communities of teachers, parents, and school managers to address sense of loneliness or helplessness, facilitate sharing of experience and discussion on coping strategies when facing learning difficulties.

Open Education community members have shared open educational resources (OER) in response to COVID-19, including:

Commonwealth of Learning created the resource "Keeping the doors of learning open". The project brings together a curated list of resources for policymakers, school and college administrators, teachers, parents and learners that will assist with student learning during the closure of educational institutions. Most of these are available as OER.

Community Contributed Open Educational Resources for Teaching and Learning in the COVID-19 Era is a co-created spreadsheet of resources. There are multiple tabs on the spreadsheet providing links to: K-12 (primary / secondary) resources, OER repositories, OER toolkits, student support, online teaching, and more.

OERu online courses is a resource to build capacity in the design and development of OER-enabled online learning. The OERu offers two facilitated online courses including free access to a competency certification in copyright and Creative Commons licensing. These courses will provide skills for participants wanting to design and publish their own online courses using the OERu's open source, component-based digital learning environment.

Teaching and Learning Online is a website by SkillsCommons and MERLOT that offers a free online resource page in response to COVID-19. This page helps teachers and students prepare to start teaching and learning online.

The University of Arizona University Libraries created a "Library Support for Shifting to Online Teaching" page and a Free-to-Use Course Materials webinar.

WirLernenOnline is a German online platform to find learning material for digital lessons in primary school, secondary school, upper secondary and vocational education.

With schools closed, demand for online education platforms has increased. Coursera, which can be taught online, also grew significantly during the pandemic.

Coursera saw 59% revenue growth year over year, largely due to a pandemic-induced boom in digital learning.

Total registered users in 2020 grew 65% over 2019.

During the pandemic, Coursera also partnered with more than 330 government agencies across 70 countries and 30 US states and cities as part of the Coursera Workforce Recovery Initiative.

In December in 2019, Zoom had just 10 million daily meeting participants. This number increased significantly due to the pandemic moving classrooms and workspaces online to 350 million.

At the peak of online learning within the pandemic, there were more than 90,000 schools using Zoom.

The closure of schools created a need for a virtual classroom portal, and Google Classroom served that purpose for many schools. It offered teachers features such as the integration of the Google Suite along with learning management tools for uploading and submitting assignments. Another factor that helped Google Classroom become a large option for schools is the integration with Chromebooks that many schools had already utilized before the pandemic.

From 2020 to 2021, Google Classroom saw an increase from 40 million to over 150 million users [325]

Divergent after-school pickup instructions for vaccinated and unvaccinated parents at an elementary school in New York City

All states have laws that require that universities offer medical exemptions to the vaccine mandate and most also require that Universities offer religious exemptions to the mandate. Universities took varied approaches to disciplining students who did provide proof of vaccination or have an approved medical or religious exemption. The University of Virginia disenrolled students who did not follow the mandate including 49 students who had already been enrolled in classes for the Fall 2021 semester.

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Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on education - Wikipedia

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The COVID-19 pandemic affected educational systems across the world. The number of cases of COVID-19 started to rise in March 2020 and many educational institutions and universities underwent closure. Most countries decided to temporarily close educational institutions in order to reduce the spread of COVID-19.

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2.5.2 Impact on education and training institutions

In order to prevent the spread of the epidemic and reduce personnel gathering, the state expressly prohibits offline classes of education and training institutions. Affected by this, thousands of educational and training institutions have transformed online, but in the short term, the transformation also brings many problems. For example:

(1) Many offline education and training institutions like to receive "advance payment", that is, to charge the fees for the next semester in advance. However, from the perspective of economics, the advance collection is neither income nor profit. Advance receipts are actually "liabilities". The epidemic broke out, and during the winter vacation, education and training institutions are bound to face the problem of refunds. If the education and training institution has no other cash flow except advance collection, it is likely to break the capital chain due to a large amount of refund.

(2) Affected by the epidemic, the future enrollment is not clear.

(3) In the absence of revenue, the costs of teachers' salaries, venue rental, and management expenses have not decreased or may even increase. Offline teaching and training institutions must have sufficient cash flow to tide over the crisis.

(4) The impact of the epidemic has brought fire to online education. Compared with the regionality of offline education institutions, online education breaks through the limitations of time and space and has unique advantages. Some online education giants have launched free courses to seize market traffic, which is undoubtedly a major impact on offline education and training institutions.

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China's education arrangements during COVID-19 pandemic period

(Information as of 20 May 2020)

To minimize the impact on education continuity, the Chinese Government introduced various measures applicable in the COVID-19 context. These are outlined below.

Limiting face to face teaching

In late January 2020, mainland China postponed all educational activities and the Chinese Ministry of Education (MoE) urged schools and higher education institutions to use online delivery as an alternative to face-to-face teaching. Of significance, this marks the first time online delivery has been permitted, at great scale, as part of formal education delivery in China.

In response to the call, the majority of provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions in mainland China pushed back the spring semester start date and transitioned to teaching classes online.

Due to higher health risks, several cities had to postpone their school re-commencement plan until further notice. Education authorities in some cities that have been harder hit with COVID-19, such as Jilin and Shulan in Jilin Province, have recalled students that had already started on-campus learning to home-based online learning until further notice. Some universities have announced that face-to-face teaching would not resume for the entire semester. Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University - a Sino Foreign joint venture between Xi'an Jiaotong University and University of Liverpool - announced that all of its undergraduate and postgraduate students would continue to study online and not return to campus for the entire second semester.

On 31 March, it was announced that China's National College Entrance Exam (Gaokao), which usually takes place in June every year, would be postponed by one month to July 2020. This is the first time that Gaokao has been postponed nationwide since it was resumed in 1977. Furthermore, all TOEFL, GRE and IELTS tests in Mainland China were cancelled for February until end of May 2020 due to the pandemic, which has disrupted many students' overseas study plans.

Assisting with the transition to online and distance delivery modes

To support education institutions' transition to online learning, the MoE issued on 4 February 2020 the " Guidance on the organisation and management of online teaching and learning in regular higher education institutions ". The document requested higher education institutions to use online platforms to facilitate remote study and recommended 22 online platforms in China capable of providing 24,000 higher education courses for free (see appendix A for list of platforms).

These materials include MOOCs (massive open online courses), SPOCs (Small Private Online Courses) and virtual simulation experiments covering 12 disciplines at undergraduate level and 18 disciplines at higher vocational level.

At school level, the MoE, together with the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), launched an online portal on 17 February 2020 for primary and secondary school students in China. The platform provides digital materials for schools to conduct teaching online and is capable of supporting 50 million students using it simultaneously. As of 11 May 2020, the platform had been visited over 2 billion times by people from all 31 mainland provinces. However, students and institutions have raised issues (such as technical limitations), especially in rural areas which may lack reliable internet connectivity and where many students/families are unable to afford the necessary equipment to access online content.

The MIIT issued a notice on 3 March announcing plans to strengthen broadband coverage during the pandemic outbreak period to support online studies. Furthermore, on 16 March, the MoE released a guideline pledging to better apply information technology in primary and secondary schools to ensure universal access to quality education. Some provinces have also subsidized students to gain access to online studies. Liaoning Province, for example, has paid a total of 7 million RMB (1.4 million AUD) to around 20,000 students from higher education institutions in the province to buy equipment or pay for internet access.

Supporting students abroad

One of the main concerns for Chinese students studying overseas during the COVID-19 pandemic is that their foreign qualification, obtained partially online during this period may not be verified by the Chinese Service Center for Scholarly Exchange (CSCSE) - an affiliated agency to the MoE that conducts official verification of foreign (overseas) academic qualifications. This concern is understandably shared by providers around the globe who wish to ensure that their offerings to Chinese students continue to meet the needs and requirements of Chinese students and regulators.

There are around 1.6 million Chinese students currently enrolled in educational courses overseas, and as of early April 2020, 1.4 million remained outside of China. According to the MoE, students are mainly located in the following countries:

United States of America - 410,000

Australia and New Zealand - 280,000

Japan and Korea - 180,000

Germany and France - 110,000

The CSCSE cancelled the 25 th China International Education Exhibition Tour (CIEET) - one of the largest annual international student recruitment events in China, which was supposed to take place from 21-29 March 2020. However, the CSCSE has confirmed that CIEET 2021 will be held 20-28 March 2021 as planned.

Supporting employment

Around 8.7 million students are expected to graduate from Chinese higher education institutions in 2020, up by 400,000 from 2019. With the pandemic forcing colleges and universities to delay entrance in the first quarter, students are facing uncertainty as to whether they can graduate on time and secure employment in the current economic circumstances.

1. Maximise employment opportunities through plans such as increasing employment quotas in basic education, health and community service. The MoE also encouraged graduates to join the army.

2. Expand pathways for further education i ncluding by increasing admissions for Masters degrees by around 189,000 places in disciplines such as clinical medicine, public health, integrated circuits and artificial intelligence. The admissions quota for college students to enter university was to also increase by about 322,000 places in disciplines such as preventative medicine, emergency management, aged care service management and e-commerce.

3. Explore more channels for employment. The government is undertaking to arrange various online recruitment events for students. It has negotiated with 5 major employment portals (51 jobs, Zhaopin, Boss Zhipin and Liepin) to offer free services to higher education graduates via a Campus Recruitment Service Campaign (www.ncss.cn). More than 2 million positions were released through the service campaign after one week of the portal being launched. The MoE also launched a 24 hour employment service hotline for graduates on 28 February 2020.

4. Asking teachers and professors to provide tailored guidance and support to students on employment.

Looking forward

The COVID-19 situation appears to be stabilizing in China and schools are gradually opening up to students after an extended winter/spring break. The next challenge for Chinese schools and institutions is to ensure campus safety and monitor the health of all students, faculty and staff as they return to face-to-face learning.

Students in China and across the world have gained extensive experience in online studies for the past few months. It will be interesting to see whether some of the functions of teaching and learning online will be maintained and further developed in the post COVID-19 world.

List of higher education institutions selected for the first phase of "One-on-one Employment and Entrepreneurship Support Action Plan" (15 April)

People's Republic of China, Ministry of Education Official Wechat account " 全国超 1 亿学生已返校，校园疫情防控如何做？教育部这场发布会详解 (More than 100 million students across the country have returned to campus, how will schools conduct disease control and prevention? The Ministry of Education holds press conference to give out details )" , 12 May 2020 https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/oK7wQe7UiVza-6kUCm-gxw

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China's education arrangements during COVID-19 pandemic period

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China's education arrangements during COVID-19 pandemic period (Information as of 20 May 2020) To minimize the impact on education continuity, the Chinese Government introduced various measures applicable in the COVID-19 context. These are outlined below.

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To sum up, COVID-19 not only poses a serious threat to the life and health of human beings all over the world, but also brings enormous difficulties and influences to many formal institutions in the world in terms of politics, economy, and law, but we firmly believe that COVID-19 will surely be defeated if the people of the world fight together.

I am looking forward to taking off our masks and going outdoors as soon as possible to enjoy the beautiful scenery, birds, and flowers of nature!

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