News
Hualien could lose billions in tourism revenue
Courtesy of ICRT
The Central Emergency Operation Center says six people remain missing following last Wednesday's magnitude 7.2 earthquake. The center says rescue efforts are being stepped-up along the Sha-Ka-Dang Trail in the Taroko National Park, near the epicenter of the earthquake. Five people have been reported missing along the Shakadang Trail and the National Fire Agency has dispatched a search team with the help of search dogs and excavators to find them. The National Fire Agency has also received a tip that a missing Singaporean couple were spotted on the Shakadang Trail and are likely to be close to the 1.5 kilometer mark. Two of the 13 people killed in the quake and three of the missing people on Shakadang Trail are members of a family of five. The center says 1,145 people were injured in the quake.
Taroko National Park, one of the hardest-hit areas in Hualien due to its unique geological environment, is closed indefinitely. While the eastern section of the Central Cross-island Highway, from Tian-xiang (天祥) eastward to the entrance of Taroko National Park is now passable after five days of rebuilding, the road conditions remain extremely vulnerable.
According to several local people who finally left the area via the highway, the road is littered with thick dirt and rocks, and rocks are still falling along the way due to continuous aftershocks. Currently traffic on the road is restricted with vehicles allowed to leave during three time slots every day but banned from going in.
Geologists say as the quake has devastated the National Park's scenery and trails, recovery and reconstruction should take at least six months. Last year 450,000 tourists visited the Park's Visitor Center, and 927,000 people went to Buluowan on vacation.
The Hualien County Government has launched an "earthquake disaster relief service center" to support affected residents. Operating from the county auditorium, the center offers financial aid, rental subsidies, tax relief counseling, and application assistance, starting today with a one-month tentative schedule. County Magistrate Hsu Chen-wei (徐榛蔚) emphasizes swift actions to facilitate the community's recovery, including coordination for housing solutions and long-term resettlement plans. In addition, a donation account has been set up to fund relief efforts, with the public encouraged to contribute to the Bank of Taiwan Hualien Branch. Amid ongoing aftershocks, residents are advised to exercise caution, especially in mountainous areas, as search and rescue efforts for missing individuals continue.
Meanwhile, the Hualien County Tourism Association says the local tourism sector is forecast to suffer losses of some NT$5.3 billion in revenues this month, after last week's earthquake. Association head Chen Yi-feng, the quake has severely impacted Hualien's tourism industry and the hotel booking rate for April is likely to drop to less than 10%. Chen says his office had previously estimated that about 60% of hotel rooms in Hualien should have been booked in April, but the earthquake has "ruined the holiday mood of many potential visitors during the four-day Tomb Sweeping weekend holiday."
Citing statistics released by the Tourism Administration, Chen says each tourist who stayed in a hotel in Hualien for one night or longer in 2022 spent an average of NT$5,736 and based on that figure and a booking rate of about 60%, the roughly 17,000 hotel rooms in the county could be expected to generate NT$5.3 billion in income in April. However, Chen says following the earthquake that will not happen.
In other earthquake related fallout, the National Land Management Agency says 42 buildings suffered severe damage from last week's earthquake - and they have been listed as "code red." The agency's "code red" is the highest level of damage. Of those 42 buildings, 32 are in Hualien, two in Taipei, four in New Taipei, and four are in Taoyuan.
According to land management agency, 70 buildings have been listed as "code yellow" for secondary damage and that includes 35 in Hualien, 13 in Taipei, seven in New Taipei City, 14 in Taoyuan, and one in Keelung while 690 other buildings don't currently fall into the color-coded warnings listing, but are still being checked.
