Print

Mail

wiki links

Americans tout US travel following recent accident

AmCham (the American Chamber of Commerce in Taipei) held a press conference yesterday, scheduled prior to Monday night's plane crash in New York, promoting travel to the US.

Inundated by TV camera crews at the event, American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Deputy Director Joseph Donovan promised that safety at US airports was tight and welcomed Taiwanese tourists to visit.

"The US government continues to welcome visitors to the US," he said

The meet was organized by AmCham's Taiwan Visit USA Committee yesterday, which plan-ned the event to encourage the public to visit the US after the terrorist attacks in New York.

In the two months since the Sept. 11 attacks, the number of visa applications for the US over the past six weeks have dropped 40 percent, AIT said.

Despite the sour numbers, US officials are working to get Taiwanese travelers back.

"We made the visa application procedure as convenient as possible, for instance, by offering a return-mail service where applicants don't have to make a second trip to pick up their visa," said Keith Powell II, chief at the travel-service section at AIT.

Prior to Monday night's accident in the US, travel to North America had started to recover.

"After another plane crashed in New York last night, at least 10 of my group travel customers to the US called this morning to cancel their reservations," said Ernest Chi (齊彥明), general manager of Everlight Travel Service Co Ltd (洋洋旅行社).

Everlight has specialized in US-bound travel for more than 20 years.

Chi said that group travel to the US is down 80 percent over the last two months compared with the same period last year.

"We couldn't even attract enough customers to form one group to the US in October, and then in November there were only two groups," Chi said.

One operator complained that the airplane crash has only made a bad situation worse.

"At first, we expected a gradual recovery since the terrorist attacks are already two months behind us," said Jimmy Chang (張金明), president of Phoenix Tours Inc (鳳凰旅遊).

"Taiwanese eventually put such events behind them."

Across the board, travel industry chiefs have employed cheap tickets to lure people back on planes.

"Our price-cuts have already hit bottom and may extend until at least Jan. 1," said Wang Chin (王謹), general manager of Northwest Airlines Taiwan.

US bound tickets prices are down at least 40 percent and package prices have been reduced as well, he said.

"A one-night stay at a five-star hotel in Las Vegas, originally priced at US$280, is now US$85," Wang said.

Another travel industry representative said air safety, not bargain prices, is the top priority.

"The public is more concerned about safety than anything else. That's why even with super-cheap fares, people are still not interested," said Stanley Yen (嚴長壽), chairman of the Taiwan Visitor's Association.
This story has been viewed 1511 times.