Greater efforts must be made to appeal to more Western, Japanese and Taiwanese tourists to revive the nation’s waning tourism business, the travel industry said after the number of Chinese tourists visiting Taiwan was found to be much lower than expected.
Statistics from the Sun Moon Lake National Scenic Area Administration Tourism Bureau showed that this summer Sun Moon Lake (日月潭) — one of the most popular tourist destinations in Taiwan — received only 290,000 visitors, or 60,000 less than last summer.
Meanwhile, statistics from the Forestry Bureau showed that 111,300 people had visited Alishan (阿里山) in June and July, 400 more than the number for the same period last year.
While the number of visitors to Alishan held steady, there were no signs of improvement anytime soon, the travel industry said.
Shop owners and hoteliers at both locations said that allowing a greater number of Chinese tourists to come to Taiwan had not resulted in the stellar business opportunities and revenues the government had promised, adding that only one or two travel agencies were willing to collaborate with local hotels on the condition that management agree to slash prices well below par.
For example, Sun Moon Lake’s Eihan Resort began work last year to expand its number of rooms from 66 to 101.
The hotel saw a 60 percent increase in its occupancy rate after the renovations.
The hotel manager, however, said the hotel had had to cut its room rate from NT$4,000 to NT$2,500 to be allowed to deal with travel agencies.
Because of the drop in tourists, the occupancy rate at Hotel Del Lago in June and July fell from 53 percent to 51 percent compared with the same period last year.
The Lalu, the lake’s best-known high-end luxury hotel, reported an occupancy rate between 80 percent and 90 percent, but less than 10 percent were Chinese tourists.
Chen Cheng-hsing (陳正興), the manager of Alisan House, said that most Chinese tourists only had meals at the hotel and did not stay overnight.
His competitor, Liao Ching-tai (廖景泰) of Wenshan Hotel, agreed, saying that most of his overnight guests were local tourists or visitors from Japan and Southeast Asia.
Also See: County official says Beijing to blame for low tourist numbers
Taiwan is stepping up plans to create self-sufficient supply chains for combat drones and increase foreign orders from the US to counter China’s numerical superiority, a defense official said on Saturday. Commenting on condition of anonymity, the official said the nation’s armed forces are in agreement with US Admiral Samuel Paparo’s assessment that Taiwan’s military must be prepared to turn the nation’s waters into a “hellscape” for the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA). Paparo, the commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command, reiterated the concept during a Congressional hearing in Washington on Wednesday. He first coined the term in a security conference last
Prosecutors today declined to say who was questioned regarding alleged forgery on petitions to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators, after Chinese-language media earlier reported that members of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Youth League were brought in for questioning. The Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau confirmed that two people had been questioned, but did not disclose any further information about the ongoing investigation. KMT Youth League members Lee Hsiao-liang (李孝亮) and Liu Szu-yin (劉思吟) — who are leading the effort to recall DPP caucus chief executive Rosalia Wu (吳思瑤) and Legislator Wu Pei-yi (吳沛憶) — both posted on Facebook saying: “I
A court has approved Kaohsiung prosecutors’ request that two people working for Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lin Dai-hua (林岱樺) be detained, as a probe into two cases allegedly involving her continues. The request was made on Friday, after prosecutors raided Lin’s two offices and the staffers’ residences, and questioned five on suspicion of contravening the Anti-Corruption Act (貪汙治罪條例). The people included the directors of Lin’s Daliao (大寮) and Linyuan (林園) district offices in Kaohsiung, surnamed Chou (周) and Lin (林) respectively, as well as three other staffers. The prosecutors’ move came after they interrogated Lin Dai-hua on Wednesday. She appeared solemn following
Sung Chien-liang (宋建樑), who led efforts to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lee Kun-cheng (李坤城), was released on bail of NT$80,000 today amid outcry over his decision to wear a Nazi armband to questioning the night before. Sung arrived at the New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office for questioning in a recall petition forgery case last night wearing a red armband bearing a swastika, carrying a copy of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf and giving a Nazi salute. Sung left the building at 1:15am without the armband and covering the book with his coat. Lee said today that this is a serious
RSS