The Tourism Bureau unveiled a plan yesterday to prop up the troubled tourism sector, which has been negatively affected by the outbreak of a deadly epidemic.
"After discussion with industry representatives, the bureau is proposing to provide short-term [one-year] loans to bail outtroubled travel agencies," Su Cheng-tien (
Under the proposal, the bureau plans to offer NT$20 million in loans to domestic travel agencies this year, with a ceiling of NT$1 million loan for each company. The measures still need approval from the Cabinet, a Tourism Bureau executive said.
Tseng Sheng-hai (曾盛海), chairman of the Taipei Association of Travel Agents, said that the sector is on the brink of collapse.
"The tourism sector is the one most severely affected by the the respiratory disease, particularly if the problem cannot be resolved in the short term," said Tseng, noting that significant numbers of tour groups have canceled travel plans for the next few months.
About 858 out of 879 group tours, or 97 percent, have canceled trips to China in April because of the illness, Tseng said. Another 1,077 out of 1,180 group tours, or 91.3 percent, have scrapped plans to travel overseas, he said.
Half of foreign groups cancelled their trips to Taiwan in March, Tseng said.
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