The Tourism Bureau yesterday announced that the suspension of outbound and inbound tours, imposed on March 19, would be extended until the end of next month, which should have come as no surprise.
However, the announcement came less than two days after Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said that Tokyo was set to hold talks with Taiwan and 11 other nations on easing travel restrictions to allow the entry of businesspeople, which forced Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) on Thursday to try to dampen enthusiasm about the idea of Taiwanese travelers being able to visit Japan anytime soon.
While the bureau’s decision to extend the ban, which was due to expire at the end of this month, until Aug. 31 is understandable, it was still a disservice to the public and the travel industry.
It is high time that the government, the travel industry and the public admit that the carefree days of traveling abroad for holidays, either on guided tours or as individuals, were a luxury that the nation cannot afford — at least not for the foreseeable future.
That is the crux of the problem created by the rapid spread of SARS-CoV-2, amounting to a pandemic that the world has yet to come to grips with: the idea that there is a foreseeable future.
No one, at this point, can say when the world would “return to normal” or “a new normal,” whatever that might be, for travel or anything else.
Taiwan is a small, densely populated nation, and it is understandable that those who can afford to travel overseas have embraced the opportunities that arose over the past two decades: the advent of budget airlines, longer paid leaves and cheaper group tours.
The idea of jetting off to New Zealand, for example, for a five-day, four-night tour would have seemed impossible before the turn of the century, given the travel time, and the cost of fares and accommodations, but it has since become a popular package offered by local travel agencies, along with week-long trips to European destinations or weekend trips to Japan and South Korea.
The past few years have seen dramatic growth in the outbound tourism sector, which has been as badly hurt by COVID-19 travel restrictions as the inbound sector.
However, Taiwan has been exceedingly fortunate as the COVID-19 crisis grew from an outbreak in China into a pandemic, thanks to the aggressive actions taken by the government and the Central Epidemic Command Center, so that despite some small hiccups, the number of cases stands, as of yesterday, at 458, including 367 imported cases, seven deaths and no locally transmitted case since April 12.
It is no wonder that Japan or other nations would welcome the return of business travelers and tourists from Taiwan, especially nations whose economies are heavily reliant on tourism.
However, those hard-won numbers should not be taken for granted. While Taiwanese and the nation’s foreign residents have shown more common sense than those in too many other nations in adapting to wearing masks and following social distancing guidelines, it is obvious from reports from popular holiday spots in southern Europe and the US over the past few weeks that people on vacation are often too relaxed to take precautions.
The problem is that while travelers on airplanes can wear masks, gloves and even hazmat suits, and carry large containers of hand sanitizer and wet-wipes, they cannot go about encased in a bubble.
Taiwan’s healthcare system should not be asked to deal with new waves of imported cases, just to pacify individuals or companies clamoring for a return to normal.
It is time to admit that travel restrictions are likely to be needed until the end of the year, if not longer. The sooner this “new reality” is acknowledged and planned for, the better for everyone.
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