Penghu tries to lure tourists with new deals

To boost the declining tourism industry in Penghu, the county government has joined forces with several domestic air carriers, hoteliers and restaurants to offer preferential tour packages starting next Saturday.

"`Fireworks at sea' will be the highlight of the various activities, such as sightseeing, water sports, seafood tasting and others," Penghu County Commissioner Lai Feng-wei (賴峰偉) said at a press conference yesterday.

Penghu has seen decreasing numbers of tourists over the past two years. Its tourism sector reached its peak in 2001 when more than 441,800 people swarmed to the islands, according to the statistics provided by the county government.

The figure dropped 23 percent to about 359,000 last year, mainly because of the SARS outbreak in the first half of the year, the county government said.

To revive tourism in the remote islets, the county government has pooled resources from the nation's biggest online travel agency, Eztravel.com (易遊網), and four airlines -- UNI Airways Corp (立榮), TransAsia Airways (復興), Mandarin Airlines (華信) and Far Eastern Air Transport Corp (遠東) -- to roll out three-days-two-nights packages from May 8 to June 15.

Fares for the special packages range from NT$3,399 for independent travelers -- which includes round-trip tickets, hotel accommodation, airport pickups and NT$2 million accident insurance -- to NT$5,900 for those in tour groups.

A one-way flight from Taipei to Penghu normally costs NT$1,650, according to Eztravel.com.

"With the boom season for tourism approaching, the four carriers will act as the `magpie bridge' in the hope of bringing more tourists, especially lovers, to the beautiful offshore archipelago," said Michael Lo (樂大信), president of Mandarin Airlines and chairman of the Taipei Airlines Association.

Hanson Chang (張有朋), public relations senior manager of Far Eastern Air, said the goal was to attract 10,000 passengers to fly with each of the four airlines.

Chang expects the special packages to bring in an estimated NT$200 million in sales. As for Penghu, he hopes the offer will create NT$1 billion in tourism consumption there.

The fireworks festival, being held for a second year, will feature firework displays by teams from Taiwan, Japan and Hong Kong at night every two days at Kuanyin Pavilion Leisure Park in Makung City.

Although water shortages were reported in Penghu, Chang said he believed the promotional activities would not be affected, as the trips are "cheap and worthy."

The preferential packages are not restricted to ROC passport holders. "Everyone is welcome," Chang said.