HOTELS IN Cebu City and its surrounding metro area are feeling the impact of the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) as occupancy rates drop by up to 20% in the past week. Hotel, Resort and Restaurant Association of Cebu (HRRAC) President Carlo B. Suarez said aside from the obvious cancellations from Chinese groups and other foreign nationalities, there are local guests who have also dropped their bookings. Mr. Suarez said the HRRAC is continuously coordinating closely with the Department of Health in terms of guest monitoring, precautionary measures that hotels should implement, and other updates. He also said that while the 10% to 20% percent drop in bookings had been noted in the past days, they are still gathering more updates on the effects of the 2019-nCoV to the hospitality sector, and to the Cebu tourism industry in general. “As much as possible we don’t want to see more cancellations in the next days. But, we also understand the extent of the virus scare,” he added. — The Freeman

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