Their predicament came to light as other holidaymakers complained of some tour operators pushing ahead with trips to some European countries.

From midnight on Friday, anyone entering the city from anywhere in Italy – as well as certain regions of France, Germany, Japan and Spain – will have to enter mandatory quarantine for 14 days.

Johnny So Tsz-yeung, general manager of the agency Sunflower Travel Service, confirmed that one of its tours would only return to Hong Kong on Saturday afternoon, meaning the group – about 20 people and the tour guide – would enter a quarantine facility.

“Six of our customers decided to buy their own tickets and come back earlier, so they will be exempted,” he added. “But for the other 20 or more people, the flight was supposed to return on Friday, but it has been cancelled,” So said, adding that the tour had been to cities in France and Germany.

But EGL Tours, which had two tours in Europe when the new rules were announced, said its customers would not be affected by the measures. They managed to come back or avoid the designated areas, director Steve Huen Kwok-chuen said.

Multiple tour operators on Thursday pulled the plug on tours to Europe. But some travellers were agitated as tours scheduled for this month and April, to cities near alert-affected areas, were set to go ahead.

Yeung Yin-ping, 60, said she had booked a 10-day tour with nine of her friends for April, heading to Amsterdam and Berlin.

As of Friday, there were more than 2,360 confirmed coronavirus cases across Germany, and five deaths, but the travel warnings only covered North Rhine-Westphalia state.

“Our tour operator, Charming Holidays, asked us to pay in full earlier this month, despite our concerns and requests for cancelling the trip,” the retiree said. “We have used lots of our savings for this trip, as it cost us HK$20,000 (US$2,570) each.”

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Yeung and her nine female friends, all of similar age, signed up for the trip last November, hoping to cheer up a friend with a leg injury. But now “the trip has become more like a burden than relaxation”, she said.

“We just hope the agency allows us to postpone or refund.”

The Travel Industry Council on Thursday estimated that at least 34 tours to Spain and Portugal would be scrapped in March, involving about 750 travellers. It was still tallying up the number of cancelled tours to other European countries.

Selina Lau Pui-ling, CEO of the Hong Kong Federation of Insurers, said travel insurance might not cover delays or cancellations. “There might also be exclusions on coronavirus contraction in the clauses if the travellers only bought insurance recently,” she said. “Only those who have regular insurance might cover medical costs overseas.”

She suggested travellers speak to their agency or tour operator to see if they can make different insurance arrangements.

As a result of tightened immigration measures, German Industry and Commerce chief representative Wolfgang Niedermark said supply chain and warehouse logistics would be heavily affected.

“Already when capacities were reduced from just mainland China, disruptions to order fulfilments were a challenge,” he said.

“Now with Germany and other parts of the EU facing higher Covid-19 cases and travel restrictions, the reduction in flights and consequently air-cargo volumes will further hinder the whole process.”

Niedermark added that leaders of key industries who he met on Friday expected regular orders would be cut.

“Most German companies in Hong Kong have issued travel bans for all staff until March so far,” he said.

Cyril Aubin, managing director of Hong Kong Tramways, which runs the city’s iconic trams, said its Paris-based parent company stopped all business trips to Asia from late February. “There are more phone calls instead of face-to-face meetings,” he said.

The 1,000-member French Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Hong Kong, which polled 415 CEOs across the Asia-Pacific region last month, found revenues were expected to drop by up to 50 per cent in 2020.

Separately, 1,350 registered travel agencies, or around 80 per cent of the city’s total, received an HK$80,000 subsidy each from the HK$30 billion anti-epidemic fund, according to the Commerce and Economic Development Bureau.

Meanwhile, 260 registered guest houses – about 15 per cent of the industry – received subsidies ranging from HK$50,000 to HK$80,000 each, depending on their size.