Tourism cashes in on extended New Year break

Domestic operators received a big red envelope after the Lunar New Year break, as the nation's scenic spots and theme parks recorded almost 11 million visits during this period, the Tourism Bureau's statistics showed.

Thanks flexible arrangements, employees of most private-sector companies were entitled to a longer break of nine days this year, from Lunar New Year's Eve on Jan. 28 to Feb. 5. Those employed by government organizations had to go back to work on Feb. 3.

In a report submitted to the Ministry of Transportation and Communications yesterday, the bureau said that between Jan. 29 and Feb. 5, tourists made 10.95 million visits to tourism spots nationwide, including theme parks, national scenic resorts and exhibition areas. This represents a surge of 20.9 percent from the six-day Lunar New Year holiday last year.

Tourism were jubilant about the bonanza and hope the tourism boom will continue for the rest of the year.

"The number of tourists visiting our park increased by 30 percent to top 100,000, compared with the same period last year. This has set a new record high," Michael Chu (朱建榮), marketing manager of Window On China Theme Park (小人國) in Taoyuan County, said yesterday.

This would mean more than 10,000 tourists per day, compared with about 3,000 to 4,000 people on normal weekends, he added.

Chu that huge crowds tend to swarm toward central and southern Taiwan during the Lunar New Year holidays, as the north is normally plagued by bad weather.

But this year, fair weather in the north, coupled with the week-long break, contributed to rosy performances. Some even described the period as Taiwan's "golden week."

Liu Jui-tsung (劉瑞欉), director-general of the Taichung Hotel Association, also reported better-than-expected business during the holiday period.

"The supply [of hotel rooms] could not meet the strong demand, and traffic jams almost became a normal thing here," he said.

Liu the domestic tourism market to continue to expand this year.

"If the government allows more Chinese tourists to visit Taiwan soon, the tourism market will experience an even bigger boom," he said.

Local operators have been preparing to host more tourists by the middle of the year, when restrictions on Chinese tourists are expected to be relaxed. But President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) New Year's Day speech touting an approach of "active management, effective opening" has put a damper on their spirits, Liu said.

"Now it seems that such an opening-up policy will not be implemented until the end of the year," Liu added.

Lai Cheng-i (賴正鎰), head of the Taichung-based Shining Group (鄉林集團), which owns the upscale resort The Lalu (涵碧樓) at Sun Moon Lake (日月潭), is more optimistic about the policy change.

He expects the policy to be put into practice by the end of next month, boosting the TAIEX to 8,000 points, he said last month.