US-bound tour group bookings have fallen by 50 percent as the Iraq war scares travelers into delaying or diverting their travel plans.
"The US-bound travel business has now hit bottom with current tour group bookings dropping below 50 percent over the same period last year," said Dave Hu (
Everlight has specialized in US-bound travel for more than 20 years and handles around 40,000 outbound tourists each year, of which about 30 percent were tour groups bound for the US.
Since last month, as the US build-up to confrontation with Iraq intensified, travelers shied away from US travel on safety concerns, he said.
That hesitance to fly is an across-the-board headache for travel agents.
"The travel industry is now the worst it has been in the last 10 years," Hu said.
Eztravel.com, one of the country's major online ticketing cen-ters, has also reported that bookings have dropped by half.
"Compared to the same period of last year, the current US-bound booking rate is 50 percent lower," said Stephen Lu (
Globetrotters are shifting their travel plans to other destinations.
"We have received several calls asking to alter US-bound tickets to Canada or other Asian countries," Lu said.
Earlier this month the number of Taiwanese arrivals in Canada surpassed US arrivals for the second time in 20 years, he added.
The first time was in the fall of 2001, after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. On average 50,000 Taiwanese visit the US each month.
For now travel agents are crossing their fingers and hoping the war winds down before summer.
"The next high season will begin in May when the weather warms up in Western countries ? we hope the war won't extend until then," Lu said.
Other long-haul travel has also been affected. While group tours to Western Europe are still stable, Everlight has suspended its group tours to Egypt and Turkey.
"We need at least 15 customers to form a group tour, but these days interest in visiting Egypt and Turkey has plummeted," Hu said.
Visitors are also steering away from US airlines.
"Many US-bound travelers name China Airlines and Eva Airways as their first choice rather than taking US airlines," Hu said.
US-based airlines, however, said business was steady yesterday.
"Its business as usual," said Wendy Chen (
United Airlines reported a slight increase in passenger numbers.
"Our occupancy rate these days is even a little bit higher than last week," said Julie Yeh (
But experts said airlines will inevitably have to cut flights as the war continues.
"Based on the slow group tour bookings we have received, airlines will eventually be forced to cut flights to save costs," Lu said.
China Airlines and Eva Airways said they don't have any plans to cut flights.
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