In a bid to revitalize the SARS-battered tourism sector, the government and industry representatives vowed yesterday to boost domestic travel by launching a promotional campaign offering big discounts.
The campaign begins today and will run through the end of this month. It aims to help the sector's sales return to a pre-SARS level -- or US$570 million per month -- by next month, said Su Cheng-tien (蘇成田), director-general of the Tourism Bureau under the Ministry of Telecom and Communications.
"With the SARS outbreak tailing off, now is the time to rebuild public confidence in traveling and to revive the tourism industry," Su said.
The "Fly Taiwan Fly" campaign is designed to link up hundreds of Taiwanese travel agencies, hoteliers, airlines and travel--destination operators.
A total of 121 hotels will offer one-night stays at regular rooms for NT$666, while 55 first-tier hotels including Westin Taipei (六福皇宮) and Howard Plaza Hotel (福華飯店) will also collectively offer 999 rooms for NT$999 each night.
However, this special room-rate discount applies only to Republic of China citizens.
A buy-one-get-one-free airfare package is also available until June 17 for passengers flying with Far Eastern Air Transport Co (
In addition, special two-for-one entrance fee promotions are also on offer at more than 30 theme parks, such as Janfusun Fancy World (劍湖山世界) in Yunlin County, Aboriginal Culture Village (九族文化村) in Taichung County and West Lake Resortopia (西湖渡假村) in Miaoli County.
One industry veteran said SARS has prompted rivals within the industry to form alliances for their survival.
"Unlike an earthquake or typhoon, SARS has hit the entire tourism sector quite hard," said Yu Kuo-Chien (
Visitor to Janfusun dropped by around 10 percent in April from the same period last year in the wake of the infectious disease.
To revitalize the tourism sector, Su said the primary aim of the campaign would be to boost domestic travel rather than focus on how many international visitors the nation can attract.
Domestic travel accounts for more than 60 percent of the nation's tourism revenue.
Last year domestic travel generated US$6.85 billion in sales while inbound travel contributed US$4.2 billion in sales, according to statistics released by the Tourism Bureau.
The next step is to lure foreign arrivals to Taiwan.
"Once the World Health Organization lifts its travel advisory on Taiwan, we will immediately kick off more campaigns and promotions to lure inbound travelers," Su said.
Before launching the "Fly Taiwan Fly" campaign, the Tourism Bureau spent NT$10 million inviting 2,000 local travel agencies to inspect local attractions.
Su said the time is ripe for helping agencies specializing in outbound travel to shift businesses to domestic market.
"SARS just taught us the lesson not to put all of our eggs in one basket," he said.
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