Cordons stand at empty passenger flight check-in counters at Hong Kong International Airport on Feb. 17. Photographer: Paul Yeung/Bloomberg
The cruise industry was among the first to get hit, with passengers quarantined on virus-stricken liners such as Carnival Corp.’s Diamond Princess, turning holiday dreams into nightmares for thousands of guests. MSC Cruises’ Meraviglia was turned away by two Caribbean ports before returning to Miami this week.

For local economies dependent on tourism, the full impact will be broader, as travelers weigh risk and benefit for the busy summer season. Each lost booking is not only a blow to hotels and airlines but also to the myriad other businesses—from Parisian luxury boutiques to Asian street-food stands—that rely on travelers.

On Boon Tat Street, Singapore’s outdoor satay market where tourists typically come to feast on cheap, tasty skewers, vendors say business is down 70% to levels not seen since the SARS outbreak.

“It’s 7 o’clock. We’re normally packed by now,” said Emmy Mohammed, looking out across half-empty tables. “Now, no one is here.”

Shares of luxury-goods companies such as LVMH, Burberry Group Plc and Kering led last week’s global stock rout as a report by Boston Consulting Group and Sanford C. Bernstein said industry sales could fall by as much as 40 billion euros ($44 billion) in 2020.

With the travel industry in the first line of fire, the OECD featured a picture of an empty airport baggage-claim hall on the cover of a global economic outlook this week, when it cut this year’s growth forecast to 2.4% from 2.9%, which would be the weakest since 2009.

The outbreak has hit particularly hard in Italy, where travel and tourism generate 13% of economic activity, according to the World Travel and Tourism Council. Normally at this time of year, skiers from across Europe head for Cortina d’Ampezzo, Val Gardena or Cervinia, some staying overnight in Milan or Venice on the way.

With alarm growing over the virus, some vacationers self-quarantined in their hotels instead of hitting the slopes, shopping or eating out. Maria Minkova, a 39-year-old civil servant from Brussels, returned home early from what was supposed to be a week in the Dolomite mountain resort of San Vito di Cadore.

“The decision to leave was dictated not so much by fear of the virus, but by the unknown measures the Italian or other European authorities might decide to take,” Minkova said. After hearing about hundreds of people quarantined in a hotel on the Spanish island of Tenerife, she worried the same might happen to her. Now Minkova is waiting to see how things evolve with the virus before making reservations for the Easter holidays.

Worries like those are exactly what the travel industry doesn’t want to hear. Some, such as Florence Airbnb host Simona Bellini, have resorted to direct emails to try to explain the situation.