Passenger arrivals in Taiwan have risen to about 30 percent of pre-COVID-19 pandemic levels, airport data showed, with an expert predicting it could reach 40 percent by the end of the year.
Since the reopening of national borders on Oct. 16, travel to Taiwan has been slowly resuming.
Incoming traveler numbers this month are expected to reach 26 to 31 percent of pre-pandemic levels, Providence University Department of Tourism associate professor Huang Cheng-tsung (黃正聰) said, citing estimates from Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport.
Photo: CNA
However, Huang said he believed it could reach 40 percent before the end of the year.
The largest number of travelers came from Vietnam at 16,000, followed by the US at 10,030 and Japan at 9,625, Tourism Bureau figures from October showed.
Travel to Taiwan has tripled since October, Hong Kong-based travel firm Klook said at an event on Wednesday announcing the results of a survey on travel habits in Asia.
Travelers from Singapore held the top spot, followed by South Korea and the US, its survey showed.
Travel from Japan and South Korea, the origin of most arrivals before the pandemic, has not yet fully recovered, it said.
Now that the pandemic is subsiding, people are looking to take full advantage of their newfound ability to travel by taking longer trips, planning in advance and spending more, Klook Taiwan general manager Emma Lee (李雅寧) said.
Taiwanese are increasingly looking outside of Asia and are seeking more unique travel experiences, she said.
Although 80 percent of respondents reported anxiety about traveling abroad next year, 90 percent said they look forward to it and nearly 20 percent have already booked tickets, the survey showed.
The most popular attraction is the Shibuya SKY observation tower in Tokyo, while the hottest package is a one-day tour of floating markets in Bangkok, Klook said.
As for travelers to Taiwan, more than half are coming for the food, Lee said.
Promoting exhibition tie-ups with large international events could draw more travelers, she said, citing as an example “Avatar: The Experience” at Singapore’s Gardens by the Bay.
Traveling by car has also become easier, after Taiwan and South Korea signed a driver’s license reciprocity agreement, Klook associate director of business development Ryan Tsai (蔡岳廷) said, adding that demand for car rentals has soared among South Korean tourists in Taiwan.
Taiwanese car rental firms have even started purchasing more Hyundai vehicles to meet the needs of this growing market, he said.
One surprising piece of feedback from these visitors has been that driving in Taiwan is safer than in South Korea, he added.
ANOTHER EMERGES: The CWA yesterday said this year’s fourth storm of the typhoon season had formed in the South China Sea, but was not expected to affect Taiwan Tropical Storm Gaemi has intensified slightly as it heads toward Taiwan, where it is expected to affect the country in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 8am yesterday, the 120km-radius storm was 800km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, moving at 9kph northwest, the agency said. A sea warning for Gaemi could be issued tonight at the earliest, it said, adding that the storm is projected to be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday or Thursday. Gaemi’s potential effect on Taiwan remains unclear, as that would depend on its direction, radius and intensity, forecasters said. Former Weather Forecast
As COVID-19 cases in Japan have been increasing for 10 consecutive weeks, people should get vaccinated before visiting the nation, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said. The centers reported 773 hospitalizations and 124 deaths related to COVID-19 in Taiwan last week. CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Director Guo Hung-wei (郭宏偉) on Tuesday said the number of weekly COVID-19 cases reported in Japan has been increasing since mid-May and surpassed 55,000 cases from July 8 to July 14. The average number of COVID-19 patients at Japan’s healthcare facilities that week was also 1.39 times that of the week before and KP.3 is the dominant
The Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) working group for Taiwan-related policies is likely to be upgraded to a committee-level body, a report commissioned by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said. As Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is increasingly likely to upgrade the CCP’s Central Leading Group for Taiwan Affairs, Taiwanese authorities should prepare by researching Xi and the CCP, the report said. At the third plenary session of the 20th Central Committee of the CCP, which ended on Thursday last week, the party set a target of 2029 for the completion of some tasks, meaning that Xi is likely preparing to
US-CHINA TRADE DISPUTE: Despite Beijing’s offer of preferential treatment, the lure of China has dimmed as Taiwanese and international investors move out Japan and the US have become the favored destinations for Taiwanese graduates as China’s attraction has waned over the years, the Ministry of Labor said. According to the ministry’s latest income and employment advisory published this month, 3,215 Taiwanese university graduates from the class of 2020 went to Japan, surpassing for the first time the 2,881 graduates who went to China. A total of 2,300 graduates from the class of 2021 went to the US, compared with the 2,262 who went to China, the document showed. The trend continued for the class of 2023, of whom 1,460 went to Japan, 1,334 went to