Despite concerns about the safety of the high speed rail following almost daily problems since its launch last Friday, the nation's toursim sector remains enthusiastic, as the bullet train service has made comfortable, one-day travel in western Taiwan possible.
Tour agencies, amusement parks and hotels are all optimistic about the effects the high speed rail is expected to bring.
The high speed rail shortens travel time between Taipei and Kaohsiung to 90 minutes from the four hours that driving or conventional trains took.
"It will definitely bring positive influences as the new transportation can boost the frequency of tours between the north and south," said Albert Yuan (袁相杰), marketing and public relations manager of Leofoo Village (六福村) amusement park in Hsinchu County.
With revenues of more than NT$800 million (US$24.4 million) last year, Leofoo Village's visitors came mostly from the north and the east. Now the source of visitors should extend to central and southern Taiwan as more convenient travel to the north becomes available, he said.
Together with the expectation that the government will soon relax limits on visitors from China, Yuan was confident that the firm would register a whopping double-digit growth this year to around NT$900 million or more, compared with the usual 5 percent increase over recent years.
Proprietors of tourism spots nationwide are not the only ones rejoicing. Travel service companies are also busy designing tour packages combining bullet train tickets, hotel stays and admission tickets to amusement parks, similar to travel packages that include tour bus, train or airline tickets.
Eztravel.com (
It has designed Web pages detailing information about the high speed rail services, including tips on ticket purchasing and train schedules, as well as two to three-day packages to areas with train stops.
For instance, its two-day tour from Taipei to Kaohsiung, which includes a one-night stay at five-star hotel The Splendor Kaohsiung, will be available at a minimum price of NT$4,500, the Web site said.
"We've got everything ready, we are just waiting for the THSRC to announce its final pricing strategy and train schedules for formal operations," said Carol Keng (
Currently, THSRC is offering 50-percent discounts during the trial run until next Friday, prolonged from the original deadline, which would have been tomorrow.
Keng believes all areas of Taiwan will be benefited by the high speed rail, as people's willingness to travel increases with short times and frequent runs.
Keng added that train travel is already more common in Taiwan than travel by plane, and therefore the new transportation means should gain popularity rapidly.
She said she expected the firm's domestic travel business to shoot up by 50 percent this year for projected revenues of NT$3 billion.
Based on Japan's experience with the Tokaido Shinkansen, the world's first high speed rail, and its economic effects, Taiwan's bullet train is expected to substantially increase the popularity of west-coast tourist spots away from the major cities of Taipei and Kaohsiung, said Hank Huang (黃崇哲), head of the BOT research center of the Taiwan Institute of Economic Research (台經院).
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