Even with more than NT$450 billion (US$14.85 billion) in financial aid from the Executive Yuan’s expanded relief package, local tourism-related businesses are unlikely to rebound from the COVID-19 pandemic any time soon, a central bank report released last month said.
The NT$1.05 trillion relief package includes NT$472 billion in financial assistance for tourism and transportation sectors, such as airlines, hotels, travel agencies, taxis and tour buses.
However, a March 20 central bank report said that the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on global and domestic economies are far greater than that of the 2002-2003 SARS epidemic, despite any benefits from delayed purchases after the crisis ends.
Photo: CNA
Tourism-related industries would be hardest hit, with widespread travel restrictions and bans on mass gatherings imposed by governments worldwide.
“It is difficult to say that there will be a V-shaped recovery at the moment, as it all depends on the development of the pandemic,” the report said.
Taking the SARS epidemic that broke out in late 2002 as an example, the bank said that the local economy rapidly lost momentum in the second quarter of 2003 after the disease took its toll on global activity.
Over that three-month period, travel on international flights to and from Taiwan fell 69.5 percent and the nation’s economy contracted 1.15 percent in 2003 as a result of the knock-on effects of SARS, the bank said, adding that the effects of COVID-19 are more severe.
Passenger load factors in February on routes between Taiwan and China, Hong Kong and Macau fell by more than 90 percent, compared with their levels in December last year, the report said, citing Tourism Bureau statistics.
At the same time, taxi drivers had 30 percent fewer passengers, while tour bus operators also experienced a 17.2 percent decline in daily operations from January, the report said.
The central bank said that the restaurant and beverage sector typically has the highest GDP ratio from the tourism industry, while tour agencies, hotels, and car rental and air transportation companies also earn a noticeable portion of their incomes from it.
Therefore, as domestic and foreign tourists’ travel activities stagnate in Taiwan, tourism-related businesses would face greater difficulties, the bank said.
Due to Taiwanese’s strong interest in traveling abroad, coupled with Beijing’s ban on independent tourists to Taiwan from Aug. 1 last year, Taiwan registered travel deficits of US$6.1 billion last year, a new high, central bank data showed.
However, the travel deficits would likely shrink this year, because of COVID-19, the bank said.
The Eurovision Song Contest has seen a surge in punter interest at the bookmakers, becoming a major betting event, experts said ahead of last night’s giant glamfest in Basel. “Eurovision has quietly become one of the biggest betting events of the year,” said Tomi Huttunen, senior manager of the Online Computer Finland (OCS) betting and casino platform. Betting sites have long been used to gauge which way voters might be leaning ahead of the world’s biggest televised live music event. However, bookmakers highlight a huge increase in engagement in recent years — and this year in particular. “We’ve already passed 2023’s total activity and
Nvidia Corp CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) today announced that his company has selected "Beitou Shilin" in Taipei for its new Taiwan office, called Nvidia Constellation, putting an end to months of speculation. Industry sources have said that the tech giant has been eyeing the Beitou Shilin Science Park as the site of its new overseas headquarters, and speculated that the new headquarters would be built on two plots of land designated as "T17" and "T18," which span 3.89 hectares in the park. "I think it's time for us to reveal one of the largest products we've ever built," Huang said near the
China yesterday announced anti-dumping duties as high as 74.9 percent on imports of polyoxymethylene (POM) copolymers, a type of engineering plastic, from Taiwan, the US, the EU and Japan. The Chinese Ministry of Commerce’s findings conclude a probe launched in May last year, shortly after the US sharply increased tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles, computer chips and other imports. POM copolymers can partially replace metals such as copper and zinc, and have various applications, including in auto parts, electronics and medical equipment, the Chinese ministry has said. In January, it said initial investigations had determined that dumping was taking place, and implemented preliminary
Intel Corp yesterday reinforced its determination to strengthen its partnerships with Taiwan’s ecosystem partners including original-electronic-manufacturing (OEM) companies such as Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) and chipmaker United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電). “Tonight marks a new beginning. We renew our new partnership with Taiwan ecosystem,” Intel new chief executive officer Tan Lip-bu (陳立武) said at a dinner with representatives from the company’s local partners, celebrating the 40th anniversary of the US chip giant’s presence in Taiwan. Tan took the reins at Intel six weeks ago aiming to reform the chipmaker and revive its past glory. This is the first time Tan
RSS