Rare and high-end overseas travel tours have become more sought after than expected following Taiwan’s lifting of its COVID-19 pandemic border controls in October, a travel agency said on Sunday.
After the government lifted a ban on inbound and outbound tour groups, some companies inquired about overseas travel plans for corporations, Sunday Tours chairman Chen Yi-fu (陳依福) told a news conference.
Chen said that to his surprise, bookings for rare and high-end travel tours have been surging faster than before the pandemic.
Photo: Chen Hsin-yu, Taipei Times
For instance, 30 people have purchased a tour to the North Pole for next year priced at NT$1.28 million (US$41,675) per person, Chen said.
The company had expected to sell a South Pole tour package priced at NT$980,000 per person to about six clients, but eventually sold it to 30 people, he added.
Chen said that this might be because COVID-19 has changed people’s attitude toward travel, as after more than two years of border controls, many people are keen to travel again.
Travelers might also be worried that another pandemic could occur, or that if they were to catch COVID-19, they would have to undergo isolation, so they want to plan trips to “must-visit” tourist attractions without delay, Chen added.
Sunday Tours said that with travel expenses being much higher than before the pandemic, tourists are choosing longer tour itineraries.
For example, the company only offered one 11-day “Benelux” trip — which includes stops in Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg — before the pandemic, but for next year, 11-day and 13-day itineraries have been arranged, Chen said.
However, the 11-day trip has been less popular than the 13-day tour, which has been fully booked.
This shows that tourists hope to have more time to experience local culture, history, scenery and food when traveling abroad, Chen added.
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
President William Lai (賴清德) has appointed former vice president Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) to attend the late Pope Francis’ funeral at the Vatican City on Saturday on his behalf, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said today. The Holy See announced Francis’ funeral would take place on Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square. The ministry expressed condolences over Francis’ passing and said that Chen would represent Taiwan at the funeral and offer condolences in person. Taiwan and the Vatican have a long-standing and close diplomatic relationship, the ministry said. Both sides agreed to have Chen represent Taiwan at the funeral, given his Catholic identity and
RSS