The annual Snow Festival began in the northern Japanese city of Sapporo on Tuesday, hit by fears over the coronavirus outbreak and soaring costs involved in transporting snow to the site amid a warm winter.

The number of visitors to the winter event in the Hokkaido capital through Feb 11 looks likely to dip below last year's record 2.74 million after China's ban on group travel due to the virus outbreak led to a mass cancellation of hotel bookings.

Unusually low snowfall since the end of last year has added to the headaches, with organizers having to go further than previous years to procure the snow needed to create the giant snow and ice carvings that are the centerpiece of the festival. At total of some 200 sculptures of various sizes are on display at three venues.

With up to 120 large trucks deployed daily to deliver snow -- twice as many as usual -- transportation costs could exceed the 46 million yen ($423,000) allocated in fiscal 2019 through March.

Source: ANNnewsCH