Issued a travel warning for the country you were planning to travel to? • When do you get a refund and how will you receive it? • What goals have changed prices - and by what percentage? • The complete guide

The world’s tourism and aviation market has been rampant in recent weeks. Companies have come out with offers and statements we have not seen in recent decades - all because of the panic of the Corona virus that is also spreading to the European continent following the rapid and deadly outbreak in Italy.

Following the Corona virus: Ministry of Health has published new guidelines for travelers to China // Photo: Ministry of Health

Many Israelis holding airline tickets are confused by the various announcements by airlines, and health and foreign ministries that are issuing more and more travel warnings. If so, when do you get a refund, how will you receive it and what can you do from now on? We made you order.

A travel warning issued by the authorities allows cancellation of airline tickets in almost all companies. The companies are responsible but few, if any, companies that will not allow you to cancel or change a flight ticket to the destination to which a travel warning has been issued. It is important to note that various airlines, including Israel's largest airline - El Al, allow cancellation or deferral of airline tickets for certain time periods. For example, cancellation of tickets to Thailand is only possible until March 2. If the trip warning to the country continues, the company is likely to extend the option and so flights that should take off after March 2 will be included in the cancellation option.

It is important to note that each company has a different cancellation policy, and it is recommended that you contact the party from which you booked your airline ticket. If you happen to order from a non-Israeli site, the process may be more cumbersome and you may want to contact him via email. Every site has the option, but keep in mind that customer service centers are busy at this time of year and you may have to wait a few days for a response. These days, it is recommended to order from an Israeli company that is subject to the Consumer Protection Law, read all the fine print in Hebrew and take no risks. As has happened in recent days in Italy, the outbreak of the virus can occur within two days and thus make another country such that you cannot travel with confidence and comfort.

Airlines and tourism in Israel have come out with huge deals in recent weeks. Ishta, Ophir Tours, The Flying Carpet, Arkia, El Al, Israir, Smartair, Disenhaus and many more companies offer airline tickets with particularly flexible cancellation options. Some even offer cancellation options until the day of the flight or a few hours before take-off - very rare conditions in the industry. Apart from that, rampant flight prices, flights to destinations such as Brazil and Mexico are becoming more expensive due to high demand, prices for Europe plummeting and the brave who choose to go to Asia can buy cheap airline tickets at tens of percent of normal prices this season. It is important to note that many insurance companies have changed their conditions to fly to Asia and in these cases it is also advisable to find out everything in advance.

At the same time, El Al is reporting a $ 70 million drop in revenue following the outbreak of the Corona virus. El Al's announcement joins a huge rage by senior officials in the aviation and tourism industry about the Ministry of Health's decision to issue travel warnings most often among the first, before many countries around the world.

Ronen Karso, CEO of Ishta addressed the situation: "This whole decision of the Ministry of Health is on the verge of delusion. We are talking about a decision that hits a very large industry. Inbound, outbound tourism, a decision not made in any other country in the world. The government ministries did not understand the meanings and did not offer compensation. The tourism market in general has so far suffered a 25 to 20 percent reduction in demand and bookings. The problem is that after such a recommendation of 'consider a flight to any destination in the world if it is not needed' the numbers are likely to drop further.

"There is also a very big hit here in the inbound tourism sector. There are about 8,000 employees in the industry in Israel and if the decision is to continue in a few weeks we will see big waves of dismissal, it is impossible to pull it off anymore. "The aviation and tourism market is moving around $ 9 billion a year in Israel. This is a few hundred million dollars in damage."