TAOYUAN, Taiwan: Taiwan and Palau launched a rare holiday travel bubble on Thursday as the two diplomatic allies try to kick-start their battered tourist industries after successfully keeping infections at bay.
Around 100 excited Taiwanese tourists arrived at Taoyuan international airport near Taipei on Thursday morning, checking in five hours before their afternoon flight in order to be tested for the coronavirus.
“I am really excited but also feeling a bit sentimental because it’s been a long, long time since I last went abroad,” tourist Andy Yang said. “I am really, really looking forward to it. I have been waiting a long time, it’s been a year already,” echoed fellow traveller Choyce Kuo.
“I packed many clothings for water sports, and things I might need for Palau’s sunshine,” she said, adding she was looking forward to discovering more about the “history and culture” of Palau.
The inaugural holiday flight took off around 2:45pm according to Taiwan’s China Airlines.
Governments across Asia-Pacific have struggled to launch reciprocal travel corridors aimed at holidaymakers.
A long awaited bubble between Australia and New Zealand is still in the works.
And a bubble between Singapore and Hong Kong had to be scrapped late last year after the latter witnessed a sudden spike in infections. India maintains travel corridors with more than two dozen countries but there are different restrictions and the agreements are mainly aimed at stranded nationals and those with business visas.
Among those taking the same flight as the first batch of tourists on Thursday is Palau President Surangel Whipps, who made a five day visit to Taiwan ahead of the launch.
Taiwanese authorities announced at noon that all tourists on the flight tested negative for the coronavirus.
Palau lies about 1,000 kilometres east of the Philippines and is one of the few places on Earth never to have recorded a Covid-19 case.
It is also one of only 15 nations that still recognises Taiwan over China, despite intense pressure from Beijing to switch sides.
— AFP
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