Overseas travel business battered by flu pandemic

According to the latest Tourism Bureau statistics, only a few first-stop overseas destinations such as South Korea, Britain, Palau and Australia, enjoyed growth in the number of travelers from Taiwan in May thanks to the incentives that included favorable exchange rates, visa-free privileges and convenient flight services.

The number of Taiwanese travelers to Japan, which attracts over 1 million Taiwanese visitors each year, had only 80,382 visits by this group in May, marking a drop of 35.41 percent from the same month of the previous year, the statistics show.

In the case of Thailand, visitors from Taiwan in May fell by 36.4 percent compared with the same month of last year, while the number of Taiwanese travelers to the United States fell by 33.63 percent.

All those countries have reported increasing numbers of A(H1N1) infections over the past month.

The statistics also show the overall number of travelers departing Taiwan in May registered a drop of 13.28 percent.

Local travel agents have predicted an even worse situation in the upcoming summer break, but anticipated significant growth in the number of people embarking on domestic tours.

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