Hoteliers, restaurateurs and tour operators on Pingtung County’s Siaoliouciou Island (小琉球) and Taitung County’s Green Island (綠島) have voluntarily halted their services until end of this month after the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) raised the COVID-19 alert in Taipei and New Taipei City to level 3 on Saturday.
The two islands, which are popular tourist destinations for water sports enthusiasts, are about to enter peak travel season.
Since Saturday, hoteliers, restaurateurs and tour operators on Siaoliuciou began appealing to their peers online to collectively suspend services until Friday next week to avoid further spread of the disease.
Photo: Tsai Tsung-hsien, Taipei Times
As of Sunday morning, more than 50 bed and breakfast operators and 30 restaurateurs and water sports operators had signed the petition.
Travel business operators on Siaoliuciou said the island faces tremendous risk as it lacks medical resources, and most of the residents are elderly people and children.
Meanwhile, 80 percent of bed and breakfast operators, hoteliers and restaurateurs on Green Island have voluntarily suspended business.
They have signed a petition demanding that the Lyudao Township (綠島) Office to impose a lockdown on the island.
“The township office does not have the authority to impose a lockdown, but we will submit the proposal to the CECC and Taitung County Government and let them make the final decision,” Lyudao Township Office chief Hsieh Hsien-yu (謝賢裕) said.
Hsieh said he is concerned about backpackers and people who come to the island without making hotel or tour reservations in advance, adding that they might be left with no place to stay and nothing much to eat when they arrive.
Green Island is currently hosting about 1,000 tourists from Taiwan proper, who have booked tours one or two months, Hsieh said, adding that the island would be in a pre-lockdown state.
Aside from the two islands, some hoteliers and scuba-diving business operators in the area near Kenting National Park have also temporarily suspended their operations.
The Pingtung County Government said it would not encourage hoteliers or travel business owners to suspend operations, but it would respect individuals’ decisions.
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