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MORAKOT: THE AFTERMATH : Key tourism centers hurt by damaged roadways

Wreckage of the duplicated Dajin Bridge is pictured on the border of Liukuei Township, Kaohsiung County, and Kaoshu Township, Pingtung County, on Monday. The bridge is the traditional gateway to the Maolin National Scenic Area, which suffered extreme damage during Typhoon Morakot. PHOTO: MARTIN WILLIAMS, TAIPEI TIMES

The Tourism Bureau said yesterday that Alishan (阿里山) in Chiayi County and Maolin Township (茂林) in Kaohsiung County suffered the worst damage from Typhoon Morakot of all the national scenic areas under its administration.

The Maolin National Scenic Area, which is known for its wide variety of butterflies, lost its Tourist Center to a mudslide.

The Directorate General of Highways managed to make Maolin accessible to small vehicles via Highways 27 and 28 and Sinwei Bridge (新威橋) on Monday.

The agency said, however, that Highway 18 to Alishan, which was severely damaged along its entire mountain segment, will not be open to traffic until Sept. 20.

Janice Lai (賴瑟珍), Tourism Bureau director-general, said the domestic travel industry was hit hard by the storm and its aftermath because the highways leading to the tourist attractions have been damaged and many people do not feel like traveling right now either, she said.

The bureau, however, has received requests from tourist shop owners in Alishan and Maolin, who say they want to reopen for business as soon as the highways become accessible.

To attract travelers from overseas, the bureau has compiled a list of tourist attractions in the north and center of the country and in Hualien that were not affected by the typhoon and has sent the list to its overseas divisions in an effort to stem the number of trip cancelations, Lai said at a press conference for the Taiwan Culinary Exhibition, which opens tomorrow.

The exhibition organizer will donate 10 percent of the ticket proceeds to disaster relief efforts, Lai said.

In related news, the National Communications Commission said yesterday that the nation’s three major telecom carriers have agreed to streamline procedures to suspend or cancel mobile phone services for typhoon victims.
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