The majority of travelers who have participated in the vaccination tourism in Guam are families and students with over 90 percent choosing the BNT vaccine. A scholar thinks Taiwanese people's doubts and concerns about the government's vaccine policy and the insufficient amount of vaccines are the main reasons behind the high demand.
Check-in counters of the EVA Airline at the Taoyuan International Airport are full of travelers in protective clothing preparing to fly to Guam. A total of 292 travelers have participated in the 22-day vaccination tourism package to the island. They are mostly comprised of families and students with over 90 percent choosing the BNT vaccine. Frankly, it would be a long wait before young people could get vaccinated in Taiwan, which means our lives could not return to normal in the meantime. We've been thinking about going to Guam and making plans. There are ten people in our group.
Traveler to Guam："We want to get fully vaccinated. Plus, we have kids and they will be receiving the vaccine as well. This one is going into Grade 10 and these two are attending college in fall."
Traveler to Guam："I don't belong in the current priority groups. (Is that why you are traveling to Guam during the summer vacation?)Yes, the trip costs about NT$200,000, including the cost for the quarantine hotel which I'll be staying at upon returning to Taiwan."
A scholar thinks the high demand for vaccination tourism in Guam has reflected the fact that people have doubts and concerns about the government's vaccination policy, the lack of sufficient vaccines, and the order of the vaccination priority group. As a result, these factors have contributed to the increased demand for flying to Guam to receive a COVID-19 vaccine among middle-aged and young adults.
Chen Chia-Yu, Associate Professor, Dept. of Tourism, Shih-Hsin University："The cost for vaccination tourism in Guam is affordable for middle-class people. They are willing to travel and get vaccinated under the premise that the trip won't affect their work and the number of vacation days is just right. The high demand for the vaccination tourism to Guam has, therefore, extended from July to August."
The scholar says although the flying time between Taiwan and Guam is only 3.5 hours, Guam isn't always the first choice among Taiwanese for island vacations in the past. The increase in popularity is due to the decreased vaccination cost and relaxed quarantine restrictions. With the rise of vaccination tourism in Guam, Taiwanese people now have the opportunity to get to know the island, which in the long term, is beneficial to the travelers, the tourism market, and the tourism supply chain.
帶著行李、做好防護，一早桃園機場長榮航空櫃檯，擠滿了辦理登機的旅客，總共292名旅客，大部分是參加關島22天自由行，以家庭和學生居多，90%以上的旅客選擇施打BNT疫苗。
旅客表示：「講實在話，就是年輕人要打疫苗，可能要等很久。所以生活都沒辦法步入正常，想了很久，我們就規劃了，我們10個人。」
旅客表示：「因為想把2針都打完，因為還有小朋友嘛！就一起把它打完，這要升高中，這兩位要升大學。」
旅客表示：「還排不到目前的那些序列裡面。（所以就利用暑假的時候？) 嗯，至少要差不多20萬，主要還包含回台的檢疫旅館。」
學者認為，關島疫苗熱背後反映出，民眾對政府疫苗政策的疑慮，主要和疫苗數量不穩定、還有施打順序有關，讓中壯階級或年輕人，不知道自己何時才能打到疫苗，因此對飛往關島打疫苗，有較多的市場回饋。
世新大學觀光系副教授 陳家瑜表示：「在不影響工作，然後價格又還算是中產階級以上的人可以負擔，然後天數也是比較適當。所以關島這一波，可以從7月延伸到8月。」
學者表示，雖然關島距台灣只有3.5小時飛行距離，但過去，並非台灣人海島旅遊首選，這次關島方面的確釋出許多善意，包括降低疫苗施打操作費用，及寬鬆隔離措施，讓台灣人對關島有正面好感甚至更多認識，長期來看對旅客、市場、供應端都有好處。
