Eerily beautiful aerial photos show empty hotel pools during lockdown

The sun is shining and temperatures are rising – but as these mesmerising aerial photographs show, hotel pools are empty due to the coronavirus. These scenes, just ahead of the usually busy summer season, were captured by Mark Cassar, who generally focuses on movie stills, corporate and wedding imagery. His drone photographs portray the effect of the pandemic on the tourism industry, particularly on large hotels. The set includes the Corinthia in St George’s Bay, the db Seabank Resort and spa and the Westin Dragonara Resort. Cassar was himself “shocked” by scenes of vast abandoned pool areas and grounds, usually teeming with life in these warmer weeks as summer approaches. [attach id=876047 size="large" align="left" type="image"]Free of people, the Westin Dragonara’s pool looks lonely on its private peninsula.[/attach] “The current coronavirus situation has really hit me,” he said. “When I heard the hotels were closing indefinitely, that is when I knew things were serious.” And that was when he took to his camera to document the surreal situation. Cassar zoomed in on about 30 hotels – mostly the more familiar four- and five-star properties, with pools and other outdoor...