Coronavirus to cost tourism '7 bn euros'

(ANSA) - Rome, March 4 - The coronavirus is expected to cost Italy's tourism sector 7.4 billion euros in losses in the upcoming trimester - March 1-May 31 - with an estimated loss of 31.625 million tourists over that quarter, the confederation representing businesses in the sector Confturismo-Confcommercio said on Wednesday.
    The new estimates were released after the evolution of the outbreak over the past week, the confederation said.
    "The situation is dramatic for the whole sector", said the president of Confturismo-Confcommercio, Luca Patanè. "Unfortunately we are paying the price of media communication which is much more lethal than the virus".