The Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the US and subsequent bombing campaign over Afghanistan have hurt inbound and outbound travel, the Tourism Bureau said yesterday.
According to the bureau, inbound tourism is forecast to grow by just 0.15 percent this year to 2.63 million arrivals.
Originally, the government agency had expected inbound tourism to climb 10 percent this year -- up from 2.62 million arrivals last year.
In its briefing to the Ministry of Transportation and Communications yesterday, the tourism bureau noted that inbound tourism dropped off sharply after the attacks.
Between Sept. 12 and the month's end, arrivals fell 19.4 percent compared to the same period last year. For the full month, the drop was 12.8 percent.
The bureau attributed much of the decline in tourist arrivals to global tensions resulting from the military confrontation between the US and the Taliban in Afghanistan.
The most drastic decline was in the number of tourist arrivals from the US. Tourist arrivals from the US plunged 26.9 percent in September compared to the same period last year.
"The decrease in the number of US travelers is the most significant in years," said Wayne Liu (
Americans are the second-largest group of inbound tourists, with Japanese travelers in the top spot.
The number of Japanese tourists dropped by 9.4 percent last month compared to the same period last year. For Hong Kong -- the third-largest source of tourist arrivals -- the decline was 8 percent.
"Given that many US and Canadian citizens are not willing to take airplanes for fear of a terrorist attack, we have suspended tourism promotions in North America, because they simply will not work," Liu said.
Instead, the tourism bureau plans to concentrate its efforts on Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand and Europe.
The number of Taiwanese traveling abroad also dropped last month, falling 18.34 percent compared to the same period last year.
With the decline in inbound and outbound tourism, the tourism bureau will have less funds to promote Taiwan abroad.
Most of the agency's promotions budget comes from a NT$300 tax levied at Taiwan's two international airports. The bureau expects to take in NT$105 million less this year than originally forecast -- hurting several promotional projects.
According to the bureau, the decline in tourism has hit travel agencies especially hard.
For example, many travel agencies were unable to get hotel deposits returned after international tourists canceled or postponed their trips.
In addition, many agencies have absorbed the cost of higher ticket fares resulting from increased insurance fees.
Hotels have also suffered, according to the bureau. The occupancy rate at the Grand Hyatt in Taipei fell 22.1 percent last month compared to the same period last year. For the Ritz Landis in Taipei, the drop was 24.6 percent.
Hotels have also had to absorb higher costs due to increased security to ensure customers' safety, the bureau said.
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