Citizens Looking Forward to Leaving Taiwan for Holiday 春節10天假期 國門解封出國旅遊人潮現

Taiwan's tourism industry is preparing for a comeback, as eager travelers are making plans for the coming 10-day Lunar New Year holiday. Packaged tours to Japan, one of the Taiwanese' favorite destinations, have seen a price increase of 30~40 percent.
 

Everyone is looking forward to leaving Taiwan for the 10-day Chinese New Year holiday next year, and travel agencies have been deluged with inquiries and bookings.

Citizen: “I'm traveling next year. (Reporter: “You've already booked everything?”) Yes.”

Citizen: “(Reporter: “Where do you want to go?”) Austria or the Czech Republic.”

While Japan and Korea remain popular destinations, many are looking forward to a European holiday.

Chang Hui-yen, President, Welcome Tour: “Airlines are resuming various routes, so we're really optimistic about the Chinese New Year holiday.”

Shan Feng, Senior Vice President, Lion Travel: “We're over 90 percent sold out for Europe and 85 percent sold out for Japan.”

According to the Travel Quality Assurance Association, the prices of tours to Southeast Asia and Japan, respectively, have increased 20 percent and 30-40 percent since the beginning of the pandemic. Tour prices for Australia and New Zealand, meanwhile, have increased 22-25 percent. Due to higher flight availability, tour prices for South Korea have not increased significantly while the appreciation of the NT dollar is offsetting the 20 percent increase in European tour prices.

Lin Yi-chun, Northeast Asia and Japan Commissioner, Travel Quality Assurance Association: “Because the government lifted travel restrictions very suddenly, Japan's tourism industry wasn't prepared and there remains a manpower shortage in customs, immigration and quarantine.”

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, meanwhile, is struggling to process passport applications. On Dec. 14 alone, it received over 11,000 applications with wait time soaring to up to four hours. The ministry says people that are applying for new passports should visit their local household registration office instead or ask a travel agency to apply on their behalf.

電話一通通撥進來，都問國外旅遊，疫情趨緩、國門解封，明年農曆春節又長達10天，民眾出國意願踴躍。

民眾說道：「明年就已經要出國了，（記者問：「你已經訂好了是不是？」）對，就是看好了。」

民眾指出：「（記者問：「您自己有想去哪裡嗎？」）奧、捷。」

出國大多鎖定日、韓自由行。另外，過年團體旅遊，歐洲線熱門程度也很高。

惠康旅行社總經理張惠雁提及：「各個航空公司的航線都陸續復甦很多，所以在過年那一波是非常值得期待的。」

雄獅旅遊媒體管理部資深副總單葑表示：「歐洲的部分幾乎都已經銷售到9成以上，日本的部分也有8成5以上的銷售。」

品保協會也公布明年第1季全球各地區旅遊商品團費參考價格，東南亞的團費跟疫情前同期相比，漲幅2成，日本團漲幅3到4成，甚至有北海道過年團要價18萬元，紐澳線也有2成2到2成5的漲幅。韓國則因機位多，團費從高低落差大，以及歐洲團雖有2成漲幅，但因台幣升值打平，漲幅不大。

品保協會東北亞線日本線主委林怡君指出：「由於解封旅遊的禁令過於突然，所以日本在人力還沒有即時到位的情況下，出現了CIQ的問題，也就是地勤檢疫跟保安（人力缺乏）。」

也因出國潮，辦護照需求增加，大量人潮湧入外交部相關局處。以14日為例，全國收件量超過1萬1千多件，平均要等2.5到3.5小時，高峰期甚至等到4小時，也讓外交部提醒民眾，新辦護照可使用各地戶政事務提供的一站式服務送件，換照民眾則可委託旅行社協助。