With the COVID-19 contained in Taiwan, experts are discussing the possibility of using travel bubbles for Taiwan to open up to the world. On Tuesday, ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmaker Mark Ho held a panel discussion with other experts to discuss Taiwan’s travel policies.
Taiwan Economic Research Institute (TIER) researcher Lu Chun-wei said that people in Taiwan usually make 15 million overseas trips a year. If people direct this to domestic travel, it should result in NT$30 billion (US$ 1 billion) in revenues for the travel industry. But foreign visitors usually bring in NT$10 billion (over US$ 3 billion) so Lu said the travel industry is still losing out.
Taiwan Think Tank Chairman Chiang Si-ji said that places like Beijing and Tokyo may see a second wave of infections so Taiwan should stay on its guard. Chiang also suggested the use of a travel capsule between countries as a way to protect the tourism industry.