Vaccination Tourism to Guam Sold-out 疫苗旅遊行程夯 長天數行程也完銷

Vaccine tourism has seen strong demand in Taiwan, even though the government is making efforts to increase the vaccination coverage rate. A major travel agency said  it has sold a total of 439 five-day packages. The 22-day packages are also very popular with 305 packages having been sold. However, travel agencies said the demand would be affected by the domestic vaccination rollout situation.

Relax. OK.

A vaccine tourist who arrived in Guam was taking selfies while he got vaccinated. Although the domestic vaccination program has been expanded to several priority groups, many people still choose the "Air V&V" program offered by Guam. The five-day-four-night vaccination package which was launched in June by one of Taiwan's largest travel agencies, Lion Travel, was completely sold out. Unexpectedly, another 305 slots were sold out quickly for the 22-day long-stay package.

Andy Yu, GM, Lion Travel:”Forty-four percent of the group that departs on July 22, is aged 30 or younger. People who have booked the long-stay vacation package, are not the seniors and retirees as we originally anticipated.”

According to the travel agency, 40 percent of the tourists chose the BNT vaccine in the five-day-and-four-night package, while as high as 96 percent of the tourists chose the BNT vaccine in the 22-day package. The agency stressed the reason for the higher demand for BNT over Moderna is due to the shorter time interval between the first and second dose.

Andy Yu, GM, Lion Travel:”For the BNT vaccine, an 18-day interval is needed between the first and the second dose. Travelers would still have three more days in Guam after their second dose. Therefore, 96 percent of them would choose to get two doses of BNT.”

As of now, the vaccination coverage rate is approximately 20.4 percent. According to the new vaccination platform, as of 5 pm on July 18, a total of 8.62 million people have completed their registration for vaccination preferences. 359,307 people, or 4.16 percent, have chosen the AZ vaccine. About 3.99 million have registered for the Moderna vaccine, which accounts for 46.27 percent of the total people registered. Approximately 4.27 million have registered for either AZ or Moderna, which amounts to 49.57 percent of the total people registered. However, starting from 2 pm on July 11, nearly 1.2 million people have altered their preferences to accepting the AZ vaccine also.

Lo Yi-chun, Deputy Chief, Medical Response and Preparedness Division, CECC:”As of now, no infected case among the people who have travelled to Guam has been observed. Everyone is hoping to get inoculated as soon as possible. Those who wish to participate in such a vaccination package need to be mindful of their personal protection. It is not worth the risk to be infected abroad.”

Many travel agencies say the customer base for the Air V&V package has shifted from individuals to enterprises starting August. They believe that the purchase intention for vaccination tourism will be affected by the domestic vaccination rollout situation.

「放輕鬆，OK！」

民眾自拍，近期參加關島旅遊行程，由專人施打疫苗畫面，雖然近來國內擴大疫苗接種對象，但是仍有不少人，選擇自費出國打疫苗。國內旅行社龍頭雄獅旅遊，6月推出5天4夜關島疫苗旅遊行，全部完銷，就連22天長天數行程，也超乎預期，305位名額，很快銷售一空。

雄獅旅遊品牌策略總經理 游國珍：「7月22號這個團，他們的年齡層在30歲以下的占比，占了44%。long-stay長天數的旅遊的部份，並非我們所想像的，就是高年齡層退休族群。

旅行社也分析，旅客對於疫苗品牌偏好，五天四夜行程，有40%的旅客選擇了BNT，而22天行程中，則高達96%旅客選擇BNT。強調只要是考量BNT兩劑施打間隔天數較莫德納短。

雄獅旅遊品牌策略總經理 游國珍：「輝瑞(BNT疫苗)的部份，至少第一劑跟第二劑要間隔18天，兩天打完第二劑之後，還有三天的時間，96%的旅客會選擇施打BNT兩劑。」

國內目前疫苗人口覆蓋率約20.4%，根據最新疫苗登記與預約平台，公布的統計顯示，截至18號下午5點，總計862萬人完成意願登記，其中，登記AZ人數為35萬9307人，佔總登記人數4.16%；登記莫德納人數，約399萬人，佔總登記人數46.27%，同時登記AZ與莫德納，約427萬人，佔49.57%。但從7月11號下午2點至今，近120萬人，重新改選擇可接受AZ疫苗。

中央流行疫情指揮中心醫療應變組副組長 羅一鈞(07.18)：「目前是還沒有關島回來確診的，大家都覺得希望可以搶先。（出國打疫苗）特別注意自己個人防護

以免說在境外的期間染疫，這樣子是得不償失。」

旅遊業者坦言，赴關島打疫苗，從8月份開始，客層有所轉移，多是企業型客戶，散戶大幅減少。認為疫苗旅遊是剛性需求，會隨著國內疫苗施打狀況，進而影響購買意願。