The nation has no plans to open its borders to international tourists next month, Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) said at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei yesterday.
Su made the remarks after travel industry representatives met with Vice President William Lai (賴清德) on Monday, asking the government to announce a specific timeline on when borders would be reopened.
They also asked the government to continue subsidizing the travel industry for fully complying with the nation’s disease prevention policy.
Photo: CNA
“Our current policy of having zero severe cases of COVID-19 while controlling a rise in confirmed cases with mild symptoms is unchanged, but we will gradually and steadily relax disease prevention measures,” Su said, in response to a question from Chinese Nationalist Party Legislator (KMT) Fu Kun-chi (傅崐萁).
Su also denied that the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) is to cease operations in June.
“The CECC helps monitor the local COVID-19 outbreak, which remains stable at the moment,” Su said. “While we have seen an increase in confirmed cases, 99.6 percent of them reported no or mild symptoms.”
Su’s remarks were expected, as the government is unlikely to reopen the nation’s borders amid a domestic outbreak of COVID-19, Travel Quality Assurance Association (TQAA) chairman Ringo Lee (李奇嶽) said.
“Aside from raising the percentage of people receiving booster shots, the government must tell the public clearly what its policy will be going forward, whether it is pursuing a policy of ‘zero COVID’ or ‘living with the virus,’” Lee said.
Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the CECC, said earlier this year that removing quarantine requirements for all international visitors is unlikely this year, Lee said.
No foreign tourists will visit Taiwan as long as the quarantine requirement stays, regardless of the length of the quarantine, he said.
The same rule applies to outbound tourists, he added.
In other news, TQAA warned that disputes between local tourists and travel agencies are expected to soar next month as people cancel tours in the face of rising numbers of locally transmitted cases.
About 20 to 30 percent of domestic tour groups have been canceled because of the latest outbreak, Lee said, adding that tour sales have dropped 50 percent compared with before the spike in COVID-19 cases.
Most cancelations came from schools and government agencies, he said, adding that private companies have postponed corporate tours as well.
While travel agencies can negotiate with tourists about postponing tours, the most complicated part is when trips cannot be postponed and tourists want to cancel the trips altogether, Lee said.
Lee cited as an example a family of eight who wanted to cancel a family trip because one of them received a notice to observe self-health management guidelines.
The family and the travel agency settled the dispute over refunds through arbitration at the association, he said.
The association receives about 40 to 50 telephone calls per day inquiring about tour cancelations and refunds, association secretary-general Amy Wu (吳美惠) said.
“People need to realize that they will incur fees for canceling tours without a legitimate reason,” Wu said, adding that reservation fees for air tickets and accommodation are non-refundable.
“If negotiations between travelers, travel agencies, hoteliers and airlines fail to produce any agreement, we will have to settle the dispute based on terms of standardized contracts between travelers and travel agencies,” Wu said.
Travelers who are required to quarantine or cancel school trips because of the government’s disease prevention policy will receive a refund after non-refundable fees are deducted, the association said.
Should travelers cancel tours for personal reasons, they will receive a refund after deducting non-refundable fees and compensation to travel agencies for losses based on the interval between the cancelation date and the departure date for the trip, it said.
TRAFFIC SAFETY RULES: A positive result in a drug test would result in a two-year license suspension for the driver and vehicle, and a fine of up to NT$180,000 The Ministry of Transportation and Communications is to authorize police to conduct roadside saliva tests by the end of the year to deter people from driving while under the influence of narcotics, it said yesterday. The ministry last month unveiled a draft of amended regulations governing traffic safety rules and penalties, which included provisions empowering police to conduct mandatory saliva tests on drivers. While currently rules authorize police to use oral fluid testing kits for signs of drug use, they do not establish penalties for noncompliance or operating procedures for officers to follow, the ministry said. The proposed changes to the regulations require
The Executive Yuan yesterday announced that registration for a one-time universal NT$10,000 cash handout to help people in Taiwan survive US tariffs and inflation would start on Nov. 5, with payouts available as early as Nov. 12. Who is eligible for the handout? Registered Taiwanese nationals are eligible, including those born in Taiwan before April 30 next year with a birth certificate. Non-registered nationals with residence permits, foreign permanent residents and foreign spouses of Taiwanese citizens with residence permits also qualify for the handouts. For people who meet the eligibility requirements, but passed away between yesterday and April 30 next year, surviving family members
Taipei, New Taipei City, Keelung and Taoyuan would issue a decision at 8pm on whether to cancel work and school tomorrow due to forecasted heavy rain, Keelung Mayor Hsieh Kuo-liang (謝國樑) said today. Hsieh told reporters that absent some pressing reason, the four northern cities would announce the decision jointly at 8pm. Keelung is expected to receive between 300mm and 490mm of rain in the period from 2pm today through 2pm tomorrow, Central Weather Administration data showed. Keelung City Government regulations stipulate that school and work can be canceled if rain totals in mountainous or low-elevation areas are forecast to exceed 350mm in
China Airlines Ltd (CAL) yesterday morning joined SkyTeam’s Aviation Challenge for the fourth time, operating a demonstration flight for “net zero carbon emissions” from Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport to Bangkok. The flight used sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) at a ratio of up to 40 percent, the highest proportion CAL has achieved to date, the nation’s largest carrier said. Since April, SAF has become available to Taiwanese international carriers at Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport), Kaohsiung International Airport and Taoyuan airport. In previous challenges, CAL operated “net zero carbon emission flights” to Singapore and Japan. At a ceremony at Taoyuan airport, China Airlines chief sustainability
RSS