How is Taiwan’s tourism industry surviving its biggest-ever Covid surge?

Domestic travel, particularly to parts of Taiwan that support outdoor recreation, is heating up this summer

But many Taiwanese are ‘protecting themselves’ by shunning what are normally some of the most crowded spaces, and the trend continues to keep pressure on tourism operators

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Domestic tourists are returning to the night market and the seafood restaurants in the resort township of Kenting, Taiwan. Photo: Shutterstock

Ralph Jenningsin Kenting Township, Taiwan

Published: 8:00am, 13 Jul 2022Updated: 9:01am, 13 Jul 2022

Before the first weekend in July, Huang Meng-feng of Taipei drove the entire north-to-south length of Taiwan so his children could romp through the sand at Little Bay, a warm-water swimming beach in the resort township of Kenting.

His group of seven travellers picked Kenting because they cannot take overseas holidays without a four-night quarantine period upon their return. The beachside township feels far from Taipei and lacks its urban crowds. Huang also said he believes Kenting offers a safeguard against daily Covid-19 infection rates that have surged into the five digits since mid-May.

Huang’s domestic travels reflect a trend around Taiwan. People across the island, which cut off international inbound tourists in March 2020 and has faced its own record number of Covid-19 cases this year, are taking summer holidays away from home. But they’re doing so in a calculated way that supports outdoor recreation rather than packed spaces – a trend that’s bad news for tourism operators who are struggling to get by.

“It should be due to the government’s stance on the pandemic, which is to live together with it, so people think it’s not so terrifying,” the 42-year-old traveller said, explaining why his group of two families didn’t mind sitting under a parasol as the occasional stranger sauntered past. “Just don’t go to a place where you get into crowds of people.”

The number of travellers visiting major domestic tourist attractions increased from more than 3 million in June 2021 – at the peak of Taiwan’s mandatory shutdowns – to more than 19 million in October as vaccination rates rose and officials allowed a reopening of businesses, Tourism Bureau figures show.

Monthly figures held steady at between 19 million and 21 million from November through April. Covid-19 resurfaced in April. Data has not been released for May or June.

This year’s lack of closures and social-distancing rules have revived domestic travel as families find time over the summer, said Darson Chiu, deputy macroeconomic forecasting director with the Taiwan Institute of Economic Research.