Earthquake-hit Taiwan region faces 20% occupancy rate during Lunar New Year

新年期間台灣震災區農曆入住率僅兩成

Recovery expected after summer holidays


TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Due to the April 3 earthquake, Hualien is expecting a hotel occupancy rate of only 20% during the Lunar New Year holiday instead of the usual 80%, reports said Saturday.

The nine-day holiday later this month is usually one of the busiest period of the year in Taiwan for domestic and international holiday travel. After the serious damage caused by the magnitude 7.2 earthquake and its aftershocks, confidence had not yet returned to the tourism sector in the east coast county, tour operators said.

As the long holiday gave a boost to overseas travel, it would take until after the summer before travel to Hualien would resume at its previous level, according to the local tourism sector.

The occupancy rate for hotels and B&Bs used to reach 70% for the three weeks leading up to the Lunar New Year, and 80% to 90% during the holiday, per CNA. However, this year, booking levels were unlikely to reach 30%.

Of the 1,700 officially registered B&Bs in the county, 100 had ceased operations, and the figure was likely to continue rising. While road and rail links with Hualien had been repaired, the train journey between Taipei and Hualien City now lasted 2 hours 20 minutes, instead of 1 hour 58 minutes previously.

Several sights had sustained damage during the earthquake, with repairs still continuing in the popular Taroko National Park. Hualien also suffered under the exchange rate of the yen, which had made Japan an even more popular destination for Taiwanese holidaymakers during the Lunar New Year.