Local travel agencies have canceled tours and restaurants have suspended operations or begun offering takeout services amid a freeze in business as people stay at home to avoid COVID-19 infection.
The hospitality and tourism sectors are bearing the brunt of a spike in local infections after authorities raised the COVID-19 alert to level 3 for Taipei and New Taipei City over the weekend and advised against gatherings or going out.
Lion Travel Service Co (雄獅旅遊), South East Travel Service Co (東南旅遊) and ezTravel Co (易遊網) have canceled group tours within Taiwan and to offshore destinations until June 8, without extra charges to travelers, to help combat the virus outbreak.
Photo: CNA
Travel agencies, which have not yet emerged from the negative effects of the pandemic due to border controls, are now facing financial stress as domestic tourism has also come to a halt.
Lion Travel said safety is of top concern and it would cooperate with pandemic control measures.
Similarly, South East Travel said it would protect the interests of travelers and make adjustments in line with the government’s virus control measures.
Online travel agency ezTravel said it would not charge cancelation fees from customers who cancel train, cruise, airplane or bus trips.
Luxury hotel Le Meridien Taipei (台北寒舍艾美酒店) and the Ambassador Hotel (國賓飯店) have temporarily shut down their buffet restaurants and banquet facilities, while the Grand Hyatt Taipei (台北君悅大飯店) has closed its Japanese, Italian and Cantonese restaurants until June 8 and restarted drive-through service for takeout orders.
The nation’s largest restaurant chain operator Wowprime Corp (王品) has closed its hot pot brand 12 Sabu (石二鍋), Tasty (西堤) and Japanese restaurant Ikki (藝奇) in Taipei’s hardest-hit district, Wanhua (萬華), and New Taipei City’s Lujhou District (蘆洲).
In addition, 100 outlets under different brands in the two cities have stopped offering dine-in services and are only offering takeout services until Friday next week.
Wowprime also owns Wang Steak (王品牛排), barbecue restaurant chain Yakiyan (原燒), teppanyaki brand Chamonix (夏慕尼) and Tokiya (陶板屋).
Properties outside Taipei and New Taipei City would reduce capacity, take diners’ temperatures and require identification to help with contact tracing if needed, it said.
McDonald’s Taiwan also halted dine-in services at all of its restaurants in major cities in northern Taiwan until Friday next week, saying it would offer take-out and delivery services during the period.
Similarly, Feast & Food Gourmet Group (饗賓餐旅集團) said all of the restaurants operating under its seven brands in Taipei, New Taipei City and Taoyuan would stop dine-in services, and only offer take-out and delivery services during the period.
The brands are Eatogether (饗食天堂), Kaifun (開飯), Guo Ran Hui (果然匯), Siam More (饗泰多), Inparadise (饗饗), Sunrise (旭集) and Jin-zhu (真珠).
The group said it offers a 10 percent discount for take-out and delivery with a minimum order of NT$1,000.
Additional reporting by CNA
STIMULUS PLANS: An official said that China would increase funding from special treasury bonds and expand another program focused on key strategic sectors China is to sharply increase funding from ultra-long treasury bonds this year to spur business investment and consumer-boosting initiatives, a state planner official told a news conference yesterday, as Beijing cranks up fiscal stimulus to revitalize its faltering economy. Special treasury bonds would be used to fund large-scale equipment upgrades and consumer goods trade-ins, said Yuan Da (袁達), deputy secretary-general of the Chinese National Development and Reform Commission. “The size of ultra-long special government bond funds will be sharply increased this year to intensify and expand the implementation of the two new initiatives,” Yuan said. Under the program launched last year, consumers can
Citigroup Inc and Bank of America Corp said they are leaving a global climate-banking group, becoming the latest Wall Street lenders to exit the coalition in the past month. In a statement, Citigroup said while it remains committed to achieving net zero emissions, it is exiting the Net-Zero Banking Alliance (NZBA). Bank of America said separately on Tuesday that it is also leaving NZBA, adding that it would continue to work with clients on reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The banks’ departure from NZBA follows Goldman Sachs Group Inc and Wells Fargo & Co. The largest US financial institutions are under increasing pressure
TRENDS: The bitcoin rally sparked by US president-elect Donald Trump’s victory has slowed down, partly due to outflows from exchange-traded funds for the token Gold is heading for one of its biggest annual gains this century, with a 27 percent advance that has been fueled by US monetary easing, sustained geopolitical risks and a wave of purchases by central banks. While bullion has ticked lower since US president-elect Donald Trump’s sweeping victory in last month’s election, its gains this year still outstrip most other commodities. Base metals have had a mixed year, while iron ore has tumbled, and lithium’s woes have deepened. The varied performances highlight the absence of a single, over-riding driver that has steered the complex’s fortunes, while also putting the spotlight
Twenty years after he was a young, struggling actor in Toronto, Thomas Lo (盧瑞麟) is now the one giving young Asian actors their big breaks. He just had to go to Hong Kong to do it. The Chinese Canadian has been the creative director of one of the territory’s biggest TV broadcasting companies for only a few years, but is already making original English-language content to reach viewers around the world. “It was a bit of a full-circle moment for me,” Lo said. “You see more Asians, but you’re still seeing the same Asians on screen, right? We’re looking for more opportunities
RSS