The magnitude 6.5 earthquake occurred in Hualien, Taiwan, China on the evening of February 6, making the already weak Taiwan's tourism industry worse. The official website of the National Tourism Administration also issued a reminder on the afternoon of February 7 that it would not be allowed to travel to Hualien, Taiwan and its neighboring areas in the near future.
It is understood that the earthquake caused some buildings in Hualien to tilt and the road surface cracked. However, local transportation, catering and other infrastructure are basically normal. Hualien's famous scenic spot Taroko HTML was temporarily closed on February 7. Popular cities such as Taipei, Kaohsiung , Kenting only have a slight tremor, and the earthquake has not affected other regions.
After the earthquake occurred in Hualien, Taiwan, the National Tourism Administration also reminded tourists who plan to go to Taiwan to carefully evaluate their travel itineraries in the near future and do not travel to Hualien and adjacent areas in Taiwan for the time being. It reminded travel agencies to stop group groups or lead groups to this risk area, organize tourists who have been in Hualien and nearby areas to adjust their itineraries in a timely manner and evacuate, take corresponding preventive measures to properly do a good job in tourists' safety. If there is any danger, please seek help in time. This reminder is valid until February 21, 2018.
According to the National Tourism Administration's "National Tourism Team Service Management System", the mainland tourist team that traveled to Hualien County on February 6 had a total of 70 groups and 1,265 people (including the team leader); the team in Taiwan had a total of 758 groups and 12,786 people (including the team leader). There will be a total of 1135 groups of mainland tourists traveling to Taiwan in the next 14 days (February 7-21).
Mainland tourism companies have launched actions to address the earthquake. CITIC Travel said that the group has about 220 customers in Taiwan and has not been affected by the earthquake yet, but all personnel in charge of Taiwan's product department have been on standby 24 hours a day, and the Taiwan team leader and local pickup company are also deploying follow-up matters. Ctrip said that it has not received any feedback from the self-operated team leader of Ctrip that the tour group has been affected by the earthquake and the injury to guests. At the same time, Ctrip Travel also promises that passengers who book hotels in Hualien County through the Ctrip platform can cancel for free.
As of 9:00 on February 7, Tuniu also confirmed that tourists from Hualien are safe, and that the itinerary during the trip was not affected. Tuniu will promptly follow up on local developments and local government requirements, and communicate and arrange itinerary adjustments while ensuring the safety of tourists.
Meituan Travel also promises that all unchecked orders for hotels in Hualien, Taiwan that are booked through Meituan Travel, Meituan, and Dianping before February 7 (no restrictions on check-in time) can be contacted to contact customer service to cancel for free.
In addition, the team currently in Taiwan will make corresponding adjustments to the subsequent itinerary. Tongcheng National Travel Service stated that the team leader will arrange the group tourists uniformly, and subsequent itineraries involving Hualien will be negotiated and confirmed with the guests and adjusted. Zhongxin Travel stated that it will adjust its product itinerary and arrangements at any time according to actual conditions to avoid disaster-stricken attractions near Hualien.
It is understood that Hualien is a popular tourist destination in Taiwan, but the general team itinerary will not stay in Hualien for too long. Therefore, the earthquake has limited impact on the Taiwan team's itinerary. Travel agencies expect that the tourism industry in Hualien may be affected to a certain extent in the near future.
Industry insiders believe that the Hualien earthquake occurs when the peak season of the Spring Festival is approaching, which will greatly dampen the already staggering tourism industry in Taiwan. During the Spring Festival in 2017, the average number of mainland tourists entering Taiwan was 3,697 per day, a sharp drop of 41.9% compared with the average annual 6,366 people on the Spring Festival last year. The earthquake will further reduce the willingness of tourists to visit Taiwan during the 2018 Spring Festival.
(Comprehensive from: Beijing Business Daily, Daily Business Daily, First Financial Daily, Beijing Youth Daily)
