The Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) yesterday pledged to work with local travel agencies to promote tours to Palau.
The ministry made the remarks after Palauan President Surangel Whipps Jr last week accused China Airlines of “poisoning” its tourism market by frequently canceling flights to the Micronesian nation.
In March, Taiwan and Palau signed a “travel bubble” agreement, but due to a spike in locally transmitted COVID-19 infections in Taiwan, flights between the two countries were temporarily suspended from mid-May to the end of July, before being resumed on Aug. 1.
Photo courtesy of Cola Tour
While flights to Ngerulmud reached an average load factor of 70 percent in August and September, all departing flights from Taipei were canceled this month due to a lack of travelers.
Whipps’ criticism of China Airlines was the focus of a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee yesterday, as lawmakers reviewed the ministry’s budget plans for the Tourism Development Fund and the Freeway Construction Fund.
Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Chiu Chen-yuan (邱臣遠) said that the airline should dispatch at least one flight per day to stabilize the Taiwan-Palau tourism market, but the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) remains cautious toward diplomatic allies, even though they might have relatively few COVID-19 cases.
The “travel bubble” agreement with Palau not only helped shore up the outbound tourism market, but it also enhanced Taiwan’s image in the international community, Chiu said, adding that the ministry should work with travel agencies to offer a series of package tours.
“Taiwan does not have many diplomatic allies and it is not good when the president of one of our allies publicly expresses dissatisfaction with tourism between the two countries,” he said.
Independent Legislator Chao Cheng-yu (趙正宇) said that, initially, flights to Palau were packed, because many people wanted to get vaccinated there due to a vaccine shortage in Taiwan at the time.
He asked Wang what the government would do now that Taiwan has a sufficient supply of COVID-19 vaccines.
This month’s flights before Saturday were canceled because each one had fewer than 20 passengers, Wang said, adding that China Airlines has reduced its service to Palau from five flights per week to one per week.
“The Tourism Bureau will discuss how to better target scenic attractions in Palau with travel agencies arranging tours there. The ministry will also work with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and China Airlines to solve issues related to flights to Palau,” he said. “We hope to find a solution that will not disrupt the airline’s operations, while stabilizing the tourism market between the two countries.”
Tourism Bureau Director-General Chang Shi-chung (張錫聰) said that Palau is a “paradise for water sports enthusiasts,” and a safe country because it does not have any COVID-19 cases.
Bureau statistics showed that 697 people traveled to Palau in August and 965 visited the country in September, but the number fell to 385 people last month.
WANG RELEASED: A police investigation showed that an organized crime group allegedly taught their clients how to pretend to be sick during medical exams Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) and 11 others were released on bail yesterday, after being questioned for allegedly dodging compulsory military service or forging documents to help others avoid serving. Wang, 33, was catapulted into stardom for his role in the coming-of-age film Our Times (我的少女時代). Lately, he has been focusing on developing his entertainment career in China. The New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office last month began investigating an organized crime group that is allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified documents. Police in New Taipei City Yonghe Precinct at the end of last month arrested the main suspect,
A cat named Mikan (蜜柑) has brought in revenue of more than NT$10 million (US$305,390) for the Kaohsiung MRT last year. Mikan, born on April 4, 2020, was a stray cat before being adopted by personnel of Kaohsiung MRT’s Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station. Mikan was named after a Japanese term for mandarin orange due to his color and because he looks like an orange when curled up. He was named “station master” of Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station in September 2020, and has since become famous. With Kaohsiung MRT’s branding, along with the release of a set of cultural and creative products, station master Mikan
Eleven people, including actor Darren Wang (王大陸), were taken into custody today for questioning regarding the evasion of compulsory military service and document forgery, the New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said. Eight of the people, including Wang, are suspected of evading military service, while three are suspected of forging medical documents to assist them, the report said. They are all being questioned by police and would later be transferred to the prosecutors’ office for further investigation. Three men surnamed Lee (李), Chang (張) and Lin (林) are suspected of improperly assisting conscripts in changing their military classification from “stand-by
LITTORAL REGIMENTS: The US Marine Corps is transitioning to an ‘island hopping’ strategy to counterattack Beijing’s area denial strategy The US Marine Corps (USMC) has introduced new anti-drone systems to bolster air defense in the Pacific island chain amid growing Chinese military influence in the region, The Telegraph reported on Sunday. The new Marine Air Defense Integrated System (MADIS) Mk 1 is being developed to counter “the growing menace of unmanned aerial systems,” it cited the Marine Corps as saying. China has constructed a powerful defense mechanism in the Pacific Ocean west of the first island chain by deploying weapons such as rockets, submarines and anti-ship missiles — which is part of its anti-access/area denial (A2/AD) strategy against adversaries — the
RSS