Xu Gaoqing, chairman of the Taiwan International Tourism Rescue Service Association, wrote in the China Times in Taiwan that the tourism industry is regarded as a star industry in the 21st century, but in less than 20 years, the world has experienced SARS, MERS and the new crown pneumonia. Every epidemic storm, the tourism industry is the first to bear the brunt of the market, resulting in a major reshuffle; the industry that survived may be more vigorous, but more operators face bankruptcy and closure, and employees are in awe. The new coronavirus is coming in full force, and the impact of the tourism industry will surpass the SARS in 2003. Although the Tsai administration has introduced relief measures, it is necessary to prescribe the right medicine, streamline the operating procedures and shorten the processing time. Otherwise, with the tourism industry with urgent financial flow demand, the relief plan may become a "loss plan."
Taiwan has been firmly in the throne of millions of sightseeing for five consecutive years, and Taoyuan International Airport has also been promoted to the ranks of the major alliance. The past scene was the crowds of inbound and exit counters at Taoyuan International Airport, and you can still see long and long people waiting to leave during peak hours. Now, due to the impact of the epidemic, not only are there fewer passengers in the airport and cruise ships suspended, but even the business of duty-free shops and airport restaurants has plummeted, let alone tourist attractions, night markets, and even department stores. The tragic situation is not difficult to imagine.
Some scholars analyzed that the proliferation of the new crown pneumonia epidemic will reduce people's willingness to travel, especially in spring, the peak tourism season, so many group tourism was cancelled, and the initial estimate of the reduction of Taiwan's tourism market by 50%. Taiwanese airlines cut flights, and even Milan and Cebu , which were originally going to sail in a glorious manner, were called for a lock-up. In previous years, the Japanese and Korean cherry blossom viewing groups that the people rushed to sign up were also unwilling to pay attention to the public's concerns that there was a risk of infection when flying, which made travel agency operators lament that it was "the most severe winter since the government opened up tourism."
According to official statistics, Taoyuan International Airport had more than 48.68 million passengers last year, with an average daily traffic of more than 133,000 passengers; this year's Spring Festival has reached 142,661 passengers per day; but as the epidemic intensified and many airlines have been grounded or reduced, in terms of the single-day travel volume on February 17 this year, there were only 59,692 passengers left. Some airlines have encouraged or required employees to take epidemic prevention leave or unpaid leave, hoping to survive this difficulty.
article said that the DPP ruling team, which claims to have "government and know how to do things", quickly launched a relief plan, with an estimated investment of 50 billion yuan and divided into three stages to help the tourism industry and transportation industry. The first stage is to provide relief for the operational losses of the travel industry, and the target is travel agencies that cooperate with the policy of stopping reception of Chinese tourists and early departure measures; in addition, for tourism, tourism, sea, land and air transportation industry, tax subsidies, tax exemptions, etc. The next two and three stages are revitalization and upgrading plans after the epidemic eases.
But from SRAR's experience, is there really a way for travel agency operators to survive until after the epidemic is over? Perhaps the test is just beginning. According to statistics from the Taiwan Tourism Bureau, before the outbreak of the SARS epidemic in March 2003, there were 1,892 travel agencies in Taiwan (excluding branches); but in recent years, due to the rise of low-cost airlines, the introduction of new aircraft by airlines, and the number of travel agencies has grown year by year, and there are nearly 4,000. Can the Tsai administration's policy beef solve the urgent problem? Businesses also take a wait-and-see attitude.
Although the first phase of the relief plan issued by the Tsai administration is 14.23 billion yuan, the actual relief measures are still under discussion. If the operator meets the conditions for applying, the application and write-off are a series of paper operations. After all, the Tsai administration and the financial industry have an application process, and the operator can only wait. If there are too many cases and insufficient manpower, it may take 2 to 3 months to get the relief loan. Some banks are even regarded as companies that are about to go bankrupt. Even if the Credit Insurance Fund gives a 90% guarantee, the banks are unwilling to borrow, etc. Therefore, at this critical moment, the Tsai administration must step up, listen to the voices of the operators and adopt the suggestions of the operators.
Since the fixed personnel and rent of travel agencies account for more than 60%, once they are unable to go out of the group and have no business income, they will first ask employees to take annual leave, and then there will be unpaid leave, salary cuts, layoffs, suspension of business or closing stalls. These are already in progress, and tens of thousands of families will be affected.No one hopes that the epidemic will occur, and everyone is looking forward to being able to survive this. At this moment, instead of fighting verbal wars, it is better to sincerely suggest that the Tsai administration discuss actual relief measures as soon as possible, and not just draw a big pie, but let the tourism industry clear the sky and rebirth the industry.
