Operational guidelines for travel agencies organizing outbound tours have been approved, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said yesterday, confirming earlier media reports.
However, the guidelines would not be implemented until the local COVID-19 outbreak has peaked, it added.
Chinese-language news media earlier yesterday reported that an unnamed Ministry of Transportation and Communications official had said the CECC has approved the guidelines, but a ban on organizing tour groups for overseas travel would remain in place for now and be lifted in accordance with the nation’s border opening plan.
Photo: CNA
Asked for confirmation, Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang (王必勝), who heads the CECC, said the guidelines have been approved.
However, the move was just in preparation for policy changes to be implemented later.
The approval would not affect the criteria or schedule for reopening the borders, and the guidelines might be revised before being implemented, he said.
Tourism Bureau Deputy Director-General Trust Lin (林信任) said the guidelines consist of three main parts: eligibility for international group travel; operational procedures for travel agencies, tour packages and itinerary planning; and COVID-19 prevention measures during the tours.
Lin said the guidelines would be publicized after the date for the border opening for outbound tour groups is decided.
Workshops would be held for travel agencies to help them understand the guidelines and prepare for the opening, he added.
Wang said the daily COVID-19 caseload is rising, due to the spread of the Omicron BA.5 subvariant of SARS-CoV-2.
While plans for further easing border control measures are being discussed, they will not be imposed until the current COVID-19 wave peaks and daily case numbers begin to drop, Wang said.
Travel industry representatives said the approval of the guidelines would not help their business as long as they cannot offer outbound tours.
“Travel agencies cannot organize outbound or inbound tour groups if the ban is still in place. Any talk about reopening the borders is useless at this point,” Travel Agent Association chairman Hsiao Po-jen (蕭博仁) said.
The CECC should lift the tour group ban so that travel agencies can begin preparing for such tours, Hsiao said.
It would be feasible for travel agencies to conduct outbound tours or host inbound tours as soon as the quarantine requirement for inbound and returning travelers is lifted, Hsiao added.
Former Taipei Association of Travel Agents chairman Wu Chih-chien (吳志健) said he is glad that the CECC is taking action toward reopening the borders, calling the approval of the guidelines “better than nothing.”
“However, we cannot organize outbound or inbound tours if the tour group ban remains in effect, and inbound and returning travelers are still subject to a three-day quarantine,” Wu said.
“We hope that the center can see that resuming international travel is the way to raise Taiwan’s international profile,” Wu said. “Unclear instructions in this regard will lead travel agents nowhere.”
Benjamin Pien (卞傑民), an official at Phoenix Tours International, said the approval of the guidelines is a positive development, but travel agencies should be given at least one month to prepare for border reopening.
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