The nation’s hotels last quarter saw their revenues fall 32.82 percent year-on-year to NT$10.28 billion (US$343.58 million), while occupancy rates plunged from 66.36 percent to 37.19 percent, according to Tourism Bureau data.
The figures might further worsen this quarter if the COVID-19 pandemic persists and governments continue to restrict international travel. Along with travel agencies and airlines, hotels have borne the brunt of the pandemic as nations around the world shut their borders and ban social gatherings to contain the virus.
Guest visits totaled 1.9 million from January to March, a decline of nearly 40 percent, or 1.24 million visits, from the same period last year at 3.15 million, the bureau said.
Foreign travelers accounted for more than 1 million visit losses, while locals made up the remaining decline, the data showed.
Hotels with a heavy reliance on international business travelers are feeling the pinch more sharply than resort properties in tourist spots outside of Taipei.
Occupancy rates at Caesar Park Taipei (台北凱撒飯店) and Cosmos Taipei (台北天成大飯店) near Taipei Railway Station and the Taipei Garden Hotel (台北花園大酒店) near the Ximen MRT Station tumbled to 30 to 50 percent, from more than 90 percent prior to the outbreak, the bureau said, adding that the figures sank to single digits for lesser-known properties.
Occupancy rates in Taipei, Taoyuan, Hsinchu, Taichung, Kaohsiung and Hualien all fell below 50 percent, bureau data showed.
A few resort hotels, such as Caesar Park Kenting (墾丁凱撒大飯店) in Pingtung County and Hotel Royal Chihpen (知本老爺大酒店) in Taitung County, kept occupancy rates above 80 percent, thanks to their less populous locations with scenic views, the data showed.
Shiina Ito has had fewer Chinese customers at her Tokyo jewelry shop since Beijing issued a travel warning in the wake of a diplomatic spat, but she said she was not concerned. A souring of Tokyo-Beijing relations this month, following remarks by Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi about Taiwan, has fueled concerns about the impact on the ritzy boutiques, noodle joints and hotels where holidaymakers spend their cash. However, businesses in Tokyo largely shrugged off any anxiety. “Since there are fewer Chinese customers, it’s become a bit easier for Japanese shoppers to visit, so our sales haven’t really dropped,” Ito
The number of Taiwanese working in the US rose to a record high of 137,000 last year, driven largely by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC, 台積電) rapid overseas expansion, according to government data released yesterday. A total of 666,000 Taiwanese nationals were employed abroad last year, an increase of 45,000 from 2023 and the highest level since the COVID-19 pandemic, data from the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) showed. Overseas employment had steadily increased between 2009 and 2019, peaking at 739,000, before plunging to 319,000 in 2021 amid US-China trade tensions, global supply chain shifts, reshoring by Taiwanese companies and
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) Chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家) and the company’s former chairman, Mark Liu (劉德音), both received the Robert N. Noyce Award -- the semiconductor industry’s highest honor -- in San Jose, California, on Thursday (local time). Speaking at the award event, Liu, who retired last year, expressed gratitude to his wife, his dissertation advisor at the University of California, Berkeley, his supervisors at AT&T Bell Laboratories -- where he worked on optical fiber communication systems before joining TSMC, TSMC partners, and industry colleagues. Liu said that working alongside TSMC
TECHNOLOGY DAY: The Taiwanese firm is also setting up a joint venture with Alphabet Inc on robots and plans to establish a firm in Japan to produce Model A EVs Manufacturing giant Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) yesterday announced a collaboration with ChatGPT developer OpenAI to build next-generation artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure and strengthen its local supply chain in the US to accelerate the deployment of advanced AI systems. Building such an infrastructure in the US is crucial for strengthening local supply chains and supporting the US in maintaining its leading position in the AI domain, Hon Hai said in a statement. Through the collaboration, OpenAI would share its insights into emerging hardware needs in the AI industry with Hon Hai to support the company’s design and development work, as well
RSS