The sales revenue of the nation’s 15 freeway service areas last year dropped about 17 percent as a spike in locally COVID-19 transmitted cases affected travel, the Freeway Bureau said yesterday.
The surge in domestic cases led the Central Epidemic Command Center to raise the COVID-19 alert nationwide to level 3 in the middle of May last year. The alert lasted until July 27.
Under the level 3 alert, people were banned from dining in at restaurants, and shopping areas and food courts in the freeway service areas were closed during the three-day Dragon Boat Festival holiday, which was unprecedented, the bureau said.
Photo courtesy of the Freeway Bureau
As a result, last year’s sales revenue dropped 16.91 percent to NT$3.443 billion (US$122.88 million), the bureau said.
Taichung’s Cingshuei (清水) Service Area, which is along the Formosa Freeway (Freeway No. 3), retained its No. 1 spot with revenue of NT$543 million last year, although it was down 21.89 percent from 2020, the bureau said.
Apart from being in central Taiwan and having a spacious shopping area, the Cingshuei Service Area has Japanese restaurants and a large shopping area for souvenirs, the bureau said.
Hsin Tung Yang (新東陽), the contractor of the service area, also invested more than NT$10 million to create Shark Encounter, a 5G artificial reality aquarium show, to attract customers.
Ranking second to fifth were Hsinchu County’s Guansi (關西) Service Area on Freeway No. 3 with NT$360 million in revenue; Miaoli County’s Taian (泰安) Service Area on the National Sun Yat-sen Freeway (Freeway No. 1), with NT$343 million; Yunlin County’s Siluo (西螺) Service Area on Freeway No. 1, with NT$332 million; and Tainan’s Dongshan (東山) Service Area on Freeway No. 3, with NT$283 million, the bureau said.
Taoyuan’s Jhongli (中壢) Service Area on Freeway No. 1 was the only one whose business grew, with sales edging up 1.26 percent to about NT$77.32 million, the bureau said.
The Jhongli service area was closed for about five months for renovation in 2020, the bureau said.
“Once the service area reopened, it attracted commuters and business travelers with its large dining area and selection of souvenirs. Its revenue gradually rose as the pandemic stabilized,” the bureau said.
While overall sales declined, the average spending per customer rose 6.97 percent to NT$144, it said.
“Because of the pandemic, people on road trips usually have only one or two people go to the food court to avoid crowds,” it said.
Yilan County’s Suao (蘇澳) Service Area ranked first in average spending by customers, as it attracted travelers by offering products by some of the county’s famous stores, the bureau said.
Last year, it further boosted sales of specialty food made in Yilan by promoting group buying, it added.
Meanwhile, the bureau said that it aims to install power-charging ports for electric vehicles at all 15 freeway service areas in the nation by 2025.
Currently, quick-charging for electric vehicles is offered at the Hukou (湖口) Service Area in Hsinchu County, as well as in Cingshui, Dongshan and the northbound side of Siluo Service Area in Yunlin County, while a slow-charging port is available at the Guansi Service Area.
More quick-charging ports are to be built in Guansi, Taian, Suao and Tainan’s Rende (仁德) Service Area this year, the bureau said.
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