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2 March, 2020

Coronavirus: Tourism pioneer becomes first Australian casualty as another travel ban imposed

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A man described as a tourism pioneer who was on board Diamond Princess has become the first Australian to die of coronavirus, as the government imposes travel sanctions on Iran and one of the world’s largest travel trade shows cancels.

See also Virtuoso CEO cancels Aussie trip amid coronavirus concerns as travel ban extended

James Kwan, a 78-year-old man from Perth was travelling on the ship with his 79-year-old wife when the outbreak began. The couple were sent to Howard Springs in the Northern Territory where Australian evacuees were sent before arriving back in Perth and put into isolation in Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital.

The man’s wife issued a statement on his death, according to ABC News:

“My husband passed away peacefully knowing that his family loved him,” she said.

The Australian Tourism Export Council released a statement describing Kwan as “true pioneer of Asian inbound tourism to Australia”. According to the council, Kwan founded Wel-Travel in 1988, paving the way in developing important inbound tourism markets including Malaysia, Singapore, China and India and Indonesia.

“The Kwan family made a significant contribution to WA’s economy before expanding their inbound travel business nationally,” the statement read.

Prior to founding Wel-Travel, Kwan was the Singapore based director of the Hong Kong Tourism Association (HKTA) where he was instrumental in establishing the National Association of Travel Agents Singapore (NATAS) Trade Fair in Singapore which continues to be a success 30 years on.

He was also a founding member of the Western Australian Tour Operators Association (WAITO), which later merged into the Inbound Tourism Operators Association, which was subsequently renamed as ATEC.

He served on the ATEC National Board from 2001 – 2005 and was also a founding member of the ATEC’s Asian Tourism Advisory Panel (now Market Advisory Panel).

Kwan’s death comes as the Australian government announced another travel ban on foreign nationals coming from Iran.

Iran has officially recorded 388 cases of the disease and 34 deaths, which would make it tied with Italy for the highest death rate outside of China. However, the BBC reported that sources from Iran’s health system said the death toll could be as high as 210.

“There is likely at this stage a high level of undetected cases, and therefore those cases won’t be intercepted or identified on departure from Iran,” Greg Hunt, federal health minister told ABC News.

Over the weekend, a Gold Coast beautician who recently returned from Iran tested positive for coronavirus, as well as another woman who flew into Sydney from Iran with Qatar Airways on February 23. Authorities are trying to contact anyone who was in contact with both women over the past two weeks.

Meanwhile, Europe is starting to feel the effects of the virus, as cases in Italy spiked by 50 per cent in 24 hours, taking the number of cases from 1128 to 1694 including 34, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.

Workers at the Louvre refused to open the gallery’s doors on Sunday, over fears visitors could infect staff, as France’s infection rate climbs over 100.

Email the Travel Weekly team at traveldesk@travelweekly.com.au

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