“Quarantine hotels” being used for arrivals from overseas undergoing mandatory 14-day self-isolation have experienced an upsurge in room reservations as students studying overseas have started returning to Taiwan for the summer.
Occupancy rates at quarantine hotels this month are at about 55 percent nationwide, while they are at about 70 percent in Taipei, Tourism Bureau data showed.
The Central Epidemic Command Center requires arrivals from overseas to self-isolate for 14 days due to the global COVID-19 pandemic and the Tourism Bureau has encouraged hotels to provide this service for Taiwanese returnees and foreign visitors.
About 150 hotels and lodging houses with a total of about 9,500 rooms began accommodating people self-isolating in March, with the occupancy rate rising from about 30 percent in April to about 55 percent this month.
Ministry of Transportation and Communications officials said that the occupancy rate for hotels in Taipei is about 70 percent, higher than other cities and counties, because it is easier for those returning to reserve rooms online in the capital.
Hotels in New Taipei City and elsewhere only accept reservations by telephone or online links, officials said, and many people feel that this is inconvenient and they choose to reserve a hotel in the capital instead.
Information and transparency about quarantine hotels varies widely, with the Taipei City Government providing an online list of 35 hotels, while other city governments do not have such a list.
Employees at Just Sleep Taipei Linsen Hotel (捷絲旅林森館) said that room reservations picked up as more Taiwanese started returning from overseas last month, while Taiwanese studying overseas started to return this month.
They expect the occupancy rate to go up to 95 percent be the end of this month, as it was at more than 80 percent in May and last month.
Hanns House (瀚寓酒店) in Taipei was the first hotel to advertise a self-isolation service.
“At the start, we had large numbers of overseas students returning to Taiwan,” hotel employees said. “We were full for most of March and since then have maintained a 50 percent occupancy rate.”
“After the regulations for business visitors entering Taiwan were loosened last month, and now that students are returning for the summer, we now have an occupancy rate of about 90 percent,” they said.
Three batches of banana sauce imported from the Philippines were intercepted at the border after they were found to contain the banned industrial dye Orange G, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday. From today through Sept. 2 next year, all seasoning sauces from the Philippines are to be subject to the FDA’s strictest border inspection, meaning 100 percent testing for illegal dyes before entry is allowed, it said in a statement. Orange G is an industrial coloring agent that is not permitted for food use in Taiwan or internationally, said Cheng Wei-chih (鄭維智), head of the FDA’s Northern Center for
LOOKING NORTH: The base would enhance the military’s awareness of activities in the Bashi Channel, which China Coast Guard ships have been frequenting, an expert said The Philippine Navy on Thursday last week inaugurated a forward operating base in the country’s northern most province of Batanes, which at 185km from Taiwan would be strategically important in a military conflict in the Taiwan Strait. The Philippine Daily Inquirer quoted Northern Luzon Command Commander Lieutenant General Fernyl Buca as saying that the base in Mahatao would bolster the country’s northern defenses and response capabilities. The base is also a response to the “irregular presence this month of armed” of China Coast Guard vessels frequenting the Bashi Channel in the Luzon Strait just south of Taiwan, the paper reported, citing a
The Chinese military has built landing bridge ships designed to expand its amphibious options for a potential assault on Taiwan, but their combat effectiveness is limited due to their high vulnerability, a defense expert said in an analysis published on Monday. Shen Ming-shih (沈明室), a research fellow at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said that the deployment of such vessels as part of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy’s East Sea Fleet signals a strong focus on Taiwan. However, the ships are highly vulnerable to precision strikes, which means they could be destroyed before they achieve their intended
UNDER PRESSURE: The report cited numerous events that have happened this year to show increased coercion from China, such as military drills and legal threats The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) aims to reinforce its “one China” principle and the idea that Taiwan belongs to the People’s Republic of China by hosting celebratory events this year for the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, the “retrocession” of Taiwan and the establishment of the UN, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said in its latest report to the Legislative Yuan. Taking advantage of the significant anniversaries, Chinese officials are attempting to assert China’s sovereignty over Taiwan through interviews with international news media and cross-strait exchange events, the report said. Beijing intends to reinforce its “one China” principle
RSS