Hotel bookings down, but camping holds up in Taiwan – afraid of tight spaces indoors, Taiwanese head for the great outdoors

About 2,000 campgrounds operate on the island and, even in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic, they remain popular staycation destinations for the Taiwanese

Campers are heading outdoors to be close to nature, to ‘relax and relieve stress’, and because it offers them ‘a sense of tranquillity’, says one

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Hotel rooms in Taiwan have been mostly empty during the coronavirus pandemic, but campgrounds on the island are packed with staycationers. Photo: Chris Stowers/PANOS

Published: 7:00am, 6 May 2020Updated: 7:35pm, 7 May 2020

On a recent Saturday last month, all 24 tent pitches at the Rainbow Garden Campground in the forested foothills of western Taiwan were occupied, either by families or groups of old friends. It wasn’t a particularly exceptional weekend either – despite government advice to stay at home, the grassy grounds are normally booked out.

Taiwan, which had reported a relatively low tally of 437 confirmed coronavirus cases and 6 deaths as of May 5, is not under lockdown. Instead, indoor gatherings of more than 100 people are banned and social distancing or the use of face masks is required in many public places.

Although some would-be campers are staying at home, there are enough people who consider the outdoors a better place to be than inside to fill the pitches at the Rainbow Garden Campground. The only immediate impact the pandemic has had is that bookings currently do not require the usual six-month wait, says operator Fan Chen-gang.

This is in sharp contrast to the occupancy rates of hotels in Taiwan. The island’s Tourism Bureau has not released occupancy data for the year to date, but Taiwanese news reports citing local hotel groups say that as many as 90 per cent of rooms have been empty since February, except during the four-day tomb-sweeping festival in April.

A couple in a tent at Rainbow Garden Campground. Photo: Chris Stowers/PANOS

Camping has become a popular staycation option for big groups of friends and families. About 2,000 campgrounds operate on the self-ruled island, from the rainforest-covered hills 2km (1.2 miles) outside urban Taipei to an unpopulated stretch of Pacific Ocean beach near the southeastern city of Taitung.

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