A magnitude 6.7 earthquake rattled the Japanese island of Hokkaido on Sept. 6, affecting the return to Taiwan of nearly 900 tourists. As New Chitose Airport remains closed, travel agencies are arranging for tourists to depart from Hakodate Airport or Asahikawa Airport. EVA Air has announced it will send larger aircraft to serve the Hakodate-Taipei route, but warns time will be needed to bring all the tourists back.
Taiwan tourists traveling in Hokkaido wait for information one day after a powerful magnitude 6.7 earthquake. The entire island was left without electricity following the earthquake, and tourists spent the night in pitch-black rooms. As there was also a water outage, breakfast options were limited to salmon onigiri. One travel agency chartered a bus to bring tourists from Lake Toya to Hakodate. Many of the places they passed by remained without power.
We weren't able to get in touch with the tour guide by telephone, and we weren't able connect with the telephone (at the restaurant), so we just drove directly there.
However, it wasn't open for business because it wasn't able to prepare food even though it had all the ingredients.
The shelves of convenience stores were emptied of food, and there were also traffic restrictions. Tourists purchased whatever food they could find. Meanwhile, at restaurants, service personnel used whiteboards to communicate the current situation to tour guides. The Tourism Bureau estimates there are 29 tour groups from Taiwan that have been forced to postpone their return. Travel agencies are arranging for them to depart Japan from alternative airports as New Chitose Airport remains closed.
Hokkaido has three airports, New Chitose Airport, Hakodate Airport and Asahikawa Airport. At present, the departures are mostly from Hakodate Airport.
It will take time to bring back all the tourists from Taiwan because of airline scheduling. The Tourism Bureau has asked travel agencies to make the travel arrangements. Meanwhile, 20 tour groups have canceled their trips to Hokkaido as a result of the earthquake. Under standard tourism contracts, travel agencies that cancel tours due to a force majeure event are required to refund the full travel fee minus any necessary fees.