In anticipation of an economic rebound, prices of outbound group tours are likely to rise by as much as 40 percent during the winter vacation late next month and the Lunar New Year holidays in mid-February, the Quality Assurance Association (旅行業品質保障協會) said yesterday.
Canada-bound group tours are expected to show the biggest year-on-year increases of between NT$20,000 and NT$40,000, resulting in a price tag of between NT$44,900 and NT$105,900 for a 10-day stay in Vancouver. The city is expected to be crowded with visitors to the Winter Olympic Games in mid-February and the Paralympics in mid-March, the association’s travel dispute committee chairman, Jones Chen (陳屬庄), told a media briefing.
During the upcoming vacation season until March, Chen said travelers could see price hikes of between 10 percent and 15 percent from the previous year. Group tours to Southeast Asian locations such as Thailand, Bali and Singapore are expected to rise by between NT$1,000 and NT$3,000 to between NT$10,500 and NT$52,800 for a four to six-day stay, according to the association’s calculations.
The price of a trip to Japan is expected remain more or less unchanged. The association predicts the price of a five-day stay in Tokyo, Osaka, Fukuoka or cities on Honshu would rise by up to NT$1,000 to between NT$33,800 and NT$49,800.
Because the yen had appreciated by 20 percent in the past year, the actual cost of trips to Japan jumped by between NT$3,000 and NT$4,000, although travel operators have absorbed most of the difference to encourage sales as business volume dwindles, the association said.
Trips to South Korea during the Lunar New Year are expected to rise by between NT$1,000 and NT$2,000 if at all, the association said.
Trips to Europe, the Middle East and South Africa are expected to increase by between NT$2,000 and NT$5,000 per trip compared with one year earlier, while trips to Australia and New Zealand will likely jump by NT$5,000 and NT$3,000 respectively.
Tours to China and the US will see no year-on-year hike next quarter, although fares are expected to go up by NT$9,000 and NT$20,000 respectively on a quarter-on-quarter basis, the association said.
Intel Corp chief executive officer Lip-Bu Tan (陳立武) is expected to meet with Taiwanese suppliers next month in conjunction with the opening of the Computex Taipei trade show, supply chain sources said on Monday. The visit, the first for Tan to Taiwan since assuming his new post last month, would be aimed at enhancing Intel’s ties with suppliers in Taiwan as he attempts to help turn around the struggling US chipmaker, the sources said. Tan is to hold a banquet to celebrate Intel’s 40-year presence in Taiwan before Computex opens on May 20 and invite dozens of Taiwanese suppliers to exchange views
Application-specific integrated circuit designer Faraday Technology Corp (智原) yesterday said that although revenue this quarter would decline 30 percent from last quarter, it retained its full-year forecast of revenue growth of 100 percent. The company attributed the quarterly drop to a slowdown in customers’ production of chips using Faraday’s advanced packaging technology. The company is still confident about its revenue growth this year, given its strong “design-win” — or the projects it won to help customers design their chips, Faraday president Steve Wang (王國雍) told an online earnings conference. “The design-win this year is better than we expected. We believe we will win
Quanta Computer Inc (廣達) chairman Barry Lam (林百里) is expected to share his views about the artificial intelligence (AI) industry’s prospects during his speech at the company’s 37th anniversary ceremony, as AI servers have become a new growth engine for the equipment manufacturing service provider. Lam’s speech is much anticipated, as Quanta has risen as one of the world’s major AI server suppliers. The company reported a 30 percent year-on-year growth in consolidated revenue to NT$1.41 trillion (US$43.35 billion) last year, thanks to fast-growing demand for servers, especially those with AI capabilities. The company told investors in November last year that
Power supply and electronic components maker Delta Electronics Inc (台達電) yesterday said it plans to ship its new 1 megawatt charging systems for electric trucks and buses in the first half of next year at the earliest. The new charging piles, which deliver up to 1 megawatt of charging power, are designed for heavy-duty electric vehicles, and support a maximum current of 1,500 amperes and output of 1,250 volts, Delta said in a news release. “If everything goes smoothly, we could begin shipping those new charging systems as early as in the first half of next year,” a company official said. The new
RSS