Hot Air Balloons Visiting Rural Taitung Schools 為台東熱氣球嘉年華熱身 下鄉到校園展示

This year's 45-day Taitung International Balloon Festival will open on July 2. Hot air balloons are currently visiting rural schools in Taitung County as part of a new educational program.

A flight team from the Taitung County Government is bringing hot air balloons to rural schools as an educational tool. Students at Donghe Township's Taiyuan Elementary School were thrilled to see a hot air balloon up close.

Huang Kuo-chiang, Principal, Taiyuan Elementary School: “We are teaching students about how hot air balloons were invented, how they fly, and how they are built.”

Yu Ming-hsun, Director, Taitung County Tourism Department: “This allows children to get to know hot air balloons and how they became such an important part of Taitung's tourism industry.”

Attendance at the Taitung International Balloon Festival was affected by the epidemic in the past two years, with over 1.2 million attending in 2020 compared to just 150,000 in 2021. Attendance was restricted to Taitung residents last year. With the epidemic seemingly under control, the county has announced the festival will open for 45 days on July 2 this year. Tourists have already begun planning their trips. 

Yu Ming-hsun, Director, Taitung County Tourism Department: “We have already announced it will take place from July 2 to Aug. 15. Many people are looking forward to the festival and people are already making reservations.”

Yu Ming-hsun says hot air balloons are not just a tourist attraction in Taitung. As the East Rift Valley is the only place in Taiwan where hot air balloons can fly, the area has also become a hot air balloon pilot training base. Students benefiting from the hot air balloon program, meanwhile, could very well become the next generation of hot air balloon pilots in Taiwan.

原先暑假才會看到的熱氣球，台東縣政府的飛行團隊已經開始帶著熱氣球，下鄉到學校展示，讓熱氣球增加推廣教育的功能。東河鄉泰源國小的學童，難得這麼靠近看到熱氣球都很興奮。

泰源國小校長黃國將表示:「讓學生瞭解到，熱氣球發明的一個歷史，還有它的一個飛行的原理，還有熱氣球的構造。」

台東縣交通觀光處長余明勳則表示:「讓所有的孩子他們可以認識熱氣球，為什麼會成為台東最重要的，一個觀光產業的龍頭。」

這兩年台東縣舉辦的國際熱氣球嘉年華會，都在疫情期間舉辦，但熱度兩極化，前年是破了紀錄，超過120萬人次參與；去年疫情緊繃，限定台東人參與，只有15萬人次。不過今年以來疫情趨緩，縣府提早宣布，今年熱氣球嘉年華會在7月2日舉行45天，已經有遊客開始預訂行程。

台東縣交通觀光處長余明勳表示:「7月2日到8月15日我們已經公布了，相對的很多人期待這樣子的嘉年華，所以大家都已經開始在做預約。」

余明勳指出，花東縱谷是國內唯一可飛行熱氣球的空域，因此台東縣熱氣球不只是觀光產業，也是國內培訓熱氣球飛行相關人才的基地，透過教育的推廣，未來這些學童可能會成為國內培養出的熱氣球飛行員。