さっぽろ雪まつり、来場者２６％減　新型肺炎が影響

　１１日閉幕した「さっぽろ雪まつり」（札幌市）の実行委員会は１２日までに、期間中の来場者数が２０２万１０００人と前年比約２６％減少したと発表した。新型コロナウイルス肺炎で、中国からの観光客が大幅に減少したことが響いた。
　現在の会場と同規模になった１９９３年以降、５番目に少なかった。実行委は、中国からの団体観光客減少のほか、肺炎を受け地元の小学校や幼稚園が団体来場を取りやめたことが影響したとみている。
　今年は記録的な少雪による雪不足にも見舞われたが、期間中は最高気温が氷点下の日が続いた。担当者は「きれいな雪像を保てた。コロナウイルスに関するトラブルもなかった」と話した。（2020/02/12-10:59）

The number of visitors to this year's Sapporo Snow Festival dropped some 26 pct from a year before, reflecting the impact of the new coronavirus outbreak, according to the organizing committee.
   The number of visitors to the annual festival in Sapporo, the capital of Hokkaido, northernmost Japan, stood at 2,021,000, the fifth lowest on record since data for the same size of the venue became available in 1993. The latest event was held from Feb. 4 to Tuesday.
   The drop was mainly due to a steep fall in the number of group tourists from China, where pneumonia blamed on the virus is spreading rapidly.
   Cancellations of group visits by children at local elementary schools and kindergartens in the wake of the virus outbreak are also believed to have led to the decline, according to the committee.
   Despite a record-low snowfall, the temperature remained below freezing point during the event. "Snow sculptures were kept in beautiful condition. There was no trouble over the coronavirus," an official at the committee said.