Tourism firms are planning to recruit new workers in the hope that the government would ease or lift border restrictions in the second half of this year.
Taiwan has had one of the world’s strictest border controls during the COVID-19 pandemic including a ban on foreign tourists. The nation also required all overseas arrivals to undergo 14 days of quarantine from March 2020 to March this year.
The restrictions have led to a considerable decline in overseas arrivals, from 11.86 million in 2019 to 140,479 last year, hurting companies catering to international travelers.
Photo: Chen Hsin-yu, Taipei Times
The mandatory quarantine period was in March lowered to 10 days and then to seven days last month, raising hopes of a reopening this year, including at companies like Lion Travel Service Co (雄獅旅行社).
Lion Travel yesterday said it plans to bring its workforce back to pre-pandemic levels and would recruit 500 people for its marketing, management, digital technology and product development departments.
The company said new recruits would be hired in Taipei, Taichung, Chiayi City, Kaohsiung, Pingtung City and Taitung City. They would also have the opportunity to work at its overseas offices in the Asia-Pacific region and North America.
Lion Travel employs about 1,800 people, and has overseas offices in Japan, Thailand, the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, China and Hong Kong, company spokeswoman Ann Lai (賴一青) said, adding that it is planning to open a new branch in South Korea.
Cathay Hospitality Management Co (國泰商旅), which operates several hotels in Taiwan, such as Madison Taipei (台北慕軒) and Hotel Cozzi (和逸), has also announced plans to hire more people.
The company said it might hire about 100 new employees, with openings in the concierge, room services and catering areas.
The InterContinental Kaohsiung (高雄洲際酒店), part of the InterContinental Hotels Group, also announced a new recruitment drive.
InterContinental Kaohsiung general manager Robbert Manussen said the new hires would work at the soon-to-open Hotel Indigo Alishan (阿里山英迪格酒店) in Chiayi County as well as at other InterContinental hotels in Taichung and Taipei.
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