(Reuters) -Concerns about the Omicron coronavirus variation and new travel restrictions have caused a surge in cancellations of hotel reservations globally, Trivago, an online hotel search company, stated Tuesday. This could threaten a fragile recovery for global tourism.

According to the company, cancellations rates rose by 35% in November while holiday travel planning fell 10%.

Before November, however, there was no information from the company about cancellation policies.

Omicron, the first case of Omicron in Africa, has prompted a flood of border closures and new testing regulations, raising concern ahead of Christmas.

Many events, from trade shows and corporate parties to sports and business meetings have been cancelled. It has led to a decrease in hotel bookings.

Private Label Manufacturing Association announced that it has cancelled its annual trade event, originally scheduled to be held in Chicago in February 2019, due to the uncertainty created by the new variant.

U.S.-based investment bank Jefferies (NYSE) cancelled Wednesday client parties, and nearly all other travel except for essential after almost 40 new COVID-19 cases had been reported to the company.

Trivago stated that overall holiday planning activity has declined, with only 4% growth since its discovery. In comparison, Christmas travel grew by 34.7% over the same period of one to two weeks in 2019,

The company reported that it experienced a 35% increase in search traffic over the past week, which was just before Thanksgiving.

According to the company, top destinations for American travelers in America are Las Vegas and New York.

Trivago explained that, “much like 2020,” domestic travel was the preferred choice as people look to reunite and reconnect with their loved ones.

Kayak, a rival travel site to Booking Holdings (NASDAQ) Inc said last month that international travel searches had fallen 5% in America compared with a 26% drop in Britain.

After Boris Johnson, the British Prime Minister, warned that there would be a tsunami of cases and Omicron was reported as the cause of the latest death worldwide, fears have intensified.