Shanghai | Thousands of Chinese tourists planning to travel to Australia over the next two months have been forced to cancel their trips after Beijing slapped a ban on tour groups overseas in an effort to control the spread of the coronavirus.

Tour operators in China said on Monday they had been told the ban would be in place for as long as two months, a crippling blow for Australia's tourism industry, which is already reeling from months of devastating bushfires and relies heavily on visitors from China.