U.S., Feb. 16 -- There may not be a better dime every to explore Hong Kong this time, but the connection to China as a Chinese city is costing Hong Kong tourism big time. Currently, there are 56 virus cases in the city and one death, compared to 71 in Singapore, not even close to the 60,000+ recorded in the rest of China. None of the cases involves visitors or people working in the visitors' industry.

Perception brought Hong Kong's visitor arrivals down 50% in January compared to the year before. The novel coronavirus pneumonia (COVID-19) takes is toll also in this Chinese city, even though there is no dangerous outbreak of the virus.

The Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB) said on Friday that visitor arrivals stood at about 3.2 million last...