Now that the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics have been postponed until next year, concerns are growing about whether small and midsize businesses in the tourism and service industries will be able to weather the COVID-19 storm, economists and analysts say.

With tourism traffic drying up and consumption being choked by social distancing, travel firms, hotels and eateries were expecting the Summer Games to spark an industrywide recovery before Tokyo and the International Olympic Committee agreed Tuesday on the one-year delay.

The postponement will likely wipe out demand from an estimated 9 million domestic and 300,000 foreign spectators.