China's hotels and restaurants are bracing for a lacklustre Lunar New Year holiday, as travel curbs and government advice to stay home and avoid big gatherings look set to deal a blow to domestic tourism this year, Reuters reports.

The week-long holiday that begins on Friday traditionally kicks off one of China's biggest spending sprees, surpassing 1 trillion yuan ($155 billion) in 2019, before the coronavirus disruptions, government figures show.

“Our business is barely half of what we usually see before the Lunar New Year,” said Lin Haiping, founder of Baheli, a beef hotpot chain with more than 100 outlets in 16 cities.

“We are in a dilemma as we don't want to have too many customers,” he added, citing the advice against large gatherings as a reason for avoiding promotional offers to drum up business.