Taiwan ready to welcome tourists again as it confirms end of quarantine for visitors
Taiwan has confirmed that it will end its mandatory Covid-19 quarantine for travelers from Oct 13, in its latest step to reopen to tourists.
The date was first floated last week amid a string of other announcements to ease the island’s strict border control measures, including the end of polymerase chain reaction tests for travelers arriving on the island.
On Thursday, the island also resumed visa-free entry for citizens of countries that previously had that status, including Singapore.
Despite doing away with quarantine, travelers will still be required to monitor their health and take antigen rapid tests over a seven-day period. They will each be given four antigen rapid test kits at the airport on arrival.
The tests are self-administered and travelers can go out as long as they have a negative test result within two days. Travelers do not need to report their temperatures.
“It is about time measures were lifted for inbound tourists,” Associate Professor Huang Cheng-tsung of the tourism department at Providence University in Taichung said.
“The number of Covid-19 cases detected on arrival usually makes up a tiny fraction of Taiwan’s total daily cases, so it would have a limited impact on healthcare services. There is really no need to restrict the entry and exit of travelers,” he said.
On Wednesday, the health authorities reported more than 48,400 local daily Covid-19 infections and 192 imported cases.
Taiwan is one of the last remaining economies in Asia that still has quarantine rules in place, although in June it cut the number of days travelers are required to be in isolation from seven to three.
The gradual easing of restrictions is part of what the island calls the “new Taiwan model”, which strives towards coexistence with the virus without shutting down the economy.
Last week, Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen said on Facebook that the island has “finally come to the final moment of the pandemic” while posting on the easing of border measures.
She added: “Now, we will do our best to revive tourism, stimulate the economy and lead Taiwan’s economy to great development.”
The pandemic has battered Taiwan’s tourism industry. In 2019, the island saw a record 11.8 million tourists, but the number was a dismal 140,479 last year.
Prior to the pandemic, tourists flocked to the quaint railway town to pen their wishes on paper lanterns before releasing them into the sky.
While borders were closed to tourists, many travel industry workers pivoted to other sectors, a problem hotels and travel agencies are now grappling with as they compete to boost staffing.