"The new railway will allow foreign tourists and backpackers, especially those from Japan and Hong Kong, to appreciate another side of Taiwan," Huang said.
Novel itineraries might include fishing ports or admiring blooming flowers in Changhua, which should become key attractions for Asian neighbors, he said.
For domestic tourism, impact would be limited, Huang expected. But he foresees increasing hotel traffic as people might opt to spend more time at their destinations, rather than spending more time on actual traveling.
"Travel costs might be higher, but the tour as such will be further enriched," he said.
Department stores and shopping malls, on the other hand, are not expected to gain significantly from the opening of the railway.
With high-scale retail chains set up in almost every city nationwide and little difference between their branches, there is little incentive for shoppers to take the bullet train to visit stores in other cities.
"You've got LV stores in Taipei, Taichung and Kaohsiung and the Montblanc brand also has 11 outlets nationwide. There's not much disparity," said David Peng (彭振宇), secretary general of the Retailers Association of Chinese Taipei (中華民國百貨協會).
Miramar Entertainment Park (
Miramar already has tour buses ferrying groups of non-Taipei shoppers to its doorstep. This tour pattern, however, is unlikely to be replaced by the pricier high-speed train, Miramar's deputy marketing manager Alex Lu (呂俊昌) said.
"For the retail sector, opening more Chinese tourists to Taiwan will be the concrete, much-needed boost to expand the small domestic market," Peng said.
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