COVID-affected tourism falls as the island resists returning to the world

Taiwan, Taipei – Before the epidemic, Yongkang Street in Taipei was a popular tourist destination, with people eating spring onion pancakes, drinking bubble tea, and eating mango ice while shopping gift shops and posh boutiques.
To keep up with demand for its dumplings, the famed Taiwanese restaurant brand Din Tai Fung established a second facility across the street from its original store.

After more than two years of closed borders, Taiwanese small enterprises that rely on tourists for a large portion of their revenue are struggling. While residents still flock to Yongkang Street on weekends, their tastes differ from those of the international tourists who have been forbidden from the island since March 2020.

Yu could make 200,000 NTD (US$6,894) a month selling Taiwan-branded facial tissues in one section of the store before tourism collapsed, he said, a favorite gift for Japanese visitors to send back to coworkers. Yu estimates that the current figure is around 1000 NTD ($34).
While recent signals that Taiwan aims to gradually loosen its pandemic regulations have given Yu some hope, he noted that things are still far from where they need to be for his firm to revive.

According to government data, the majority of Taiwan’s tourists came from nearby Japan, Hong Kong, and South Korea in 2019, and their average duration of stay was 6.2 nights, making quarantine a non-starter for most visitors.
Health officials have stated that quarantine will continue in some form for the foreseeable future, with public comments suggesting that the duration could be reduced to three days at a later point.

C According to Jason Wang, a Stanford University professor of pediatrics and health policy who has studied Taiwan’s pandemic response, the island might be able to weather the latest outbreak without large fatalities provided health officials can raise older immunization rates.
Taiwan has a well-regarded healthcare system with intensive-care capability on par with Germany and Canada, and Taiwanese citizens must now “have the fortitude to move forward,” according to Wang.
“As Omicron is both extremely contagious and often symptomless, the focus should shift to preventing deaths rather than controlling the transmission of the virus,” he said.

Despite the fact that cases have increased in Taiwan, fatalities have remained low, with only 854 deaths documented since 2020, according to the Taiwanese government.

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