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.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
RSS