Tourist sites are nearly abandoned as COVID-19, also known as coronavirus, spreads globally. Photos show near-empty waterparks, shorter lines at the usually-crowded Vatican and signs announcing the closure of Paris' iconic Louvre amid the coronavirus outbreak.

CNN reported that the travel industry may be facing its worst financial crisis since the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, and the virus' effect on the travel industry is getting worse everyday.

Coronavirus is already making waves in the U.S. economy, with Federal Reserve cutting interest rates by half a percentage Tuesday morning, according to the AP. Chairman Jerome Powell said that the virus "poses evolving risks to economic activity."

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(MORE: Coronavirus Death Toll Rises, Federal Reserve Slashes Interest Rates in Response)

The travel industry has a huge impact on the global economy.

"It's vital. If you measure the entirety of the impact of travel, it is bigger than any other industry around the world," Adam Sacks, president of Tourism Economics, a leading research firm that follows the industry, told CNN. "No other industry can say it supports 1 in 10 jobs."

The sharp drop in tourism not only affects popular museums, attractions and airlines, but restaurants, retail, sports leagues and public transportation. Photos in the slideshow above show vacant buses and trains, empty tables at eateries and Milan's most popular fashion district nearly abandoned.

As of Wednesday morning, there were 94,250 confirmed cases of COVID-19 worldwide, according to Johns Hopkins.

MORE FROM WEATHER.COM: Images of an Outbreak