Consumers upbeat for holidays

Skinny Santas, two-tier snowmen and Christmas decorations that remain on display year-round.

While Taiwanese may not always grasp the Western essence of Christmas, consumers are nevertheless adamant about holiday spending -- even during the current recession.

"To keep my boy's Santa fantasy alive, no matter how bad the economy is, I will still buy him a gift," said a taxi driver surnamed Chen, 40, the father of a five-year old boy.

Taiwan's economic growth is expected to contract 2.12 percent this year as unemployment soars to a 26-year high.

But the draw of Christmas lights and tinsel has made the items hot holiday sellers in the capital, retailers said.

"Children always like the holiday season and this year I bought a new Christmas tree with lots of lovely decorations," said a 44-year old housewife and mother of two, surnamed Liao.

"Although the media keeps reminding us about the recession, my holiday spending habits are unchanged."

Holiday spending on children, as in the West is also prevelant in Taipei.

According to a senior executive at Pacific Sogo Department Store (太平洋崇光百貨), there are no signs of an economic squeeze on sales of children's clothes and toys.

"Over the last three weeks, sales of these two categories have jumped 6 percent over the same period last year," said Chiang Ching-neng (江慶能), assistant manager of Pacific Sogo.

While Christmas is not a traditional holiday for Taiwanese, more and more people like to exchange gifts or set up Christmas decorations to celebrate, Chiang said.

Another popular way to celebrate Christmas -- Taiwanese style -- is to splurge on expensive dinners or throw all-night parties in five-star hotels.

"Having a party in five-star hotel has become a must-do event on Christmas Eve. We've done this for five years and we won't skip it this year for sure," said Silvia Liao (廖秀萍), 22, an employee at a local consulting firm.

For hotels and restaurants Christmas and New Years are the high season, and most of them try to capitalize on customers' holiday spirit as well.

Taipei's top hotels will jostle for guests, offering a wide price range for one night stays, priced at between NT$4,000 and NT$14,800, depending on room size and view. Some Christmas packages include dinner, tickets to the hotel's Christmas dance party and breakfast.

Christmas dinner is another golden goose for hotels. Most of the luxury meals offered in town go for about NT$1,000 a head, and western-style foods are the most popular choice.

With Christmas this year not falling on an official holiday, many people have chosen to celebrate on the weekend before Dec. 25.

"All of our suites have been fully booked for Dec 22 and 23 since early this week," said Luanne Li (李佳燕), public relations manager at the Grand Hyatt Taipei.

One retail industry expert said young people are less impacted by the bad economy than those in middle management positions.

"About 70 percent of the hotel's customers during Christmas are young couples between age 25 and 30," she said.