The four-day International Spring Travel Fair kicked off in Taipei on Friday. Having been cooped up too long during the COVID pandemic, Taiwanese people are scrambling to get the best discounts for travel to Taiwan’s outlying islands and win meal vouchers for Taiwan’s premier restaurants.
A long line of people stretches out of the Taipei World Trade Center. And they’re all here for this spring season’s travel fair.
One woman says she wants to go to the outlying Penghu islands. Another lady says she’s interested in taking a cruise around Taiwan. A travel package to Penghu during the fireworks festival only costs NT$5,300 per person. That’s just over half the price from before the COVID-19 pandemic. It would also only cost half the price for a four-day, three-night trip to another offshore island, Kinmen, at less than NT$3,600 per person.
For those who are still wary about traveling, vouchers are on offer for meals at five-star hotels. What originally cost NT$1,200 for one now only costs NT$899, a discount of more than 50%. You would also only have to pay NT$800 per person for a dinner of all-you-can-eat prime steak at a Michelin 3-star restaurant. That’s a discount of almost 50%.
One hotel staff member says that though food prices have gone up, the prices of meal vouchers have only gone up by 1 to 3% on average.
Organizers say people can get the best deals for their next travel package or fancy dinner at the travel fair, which ends Monday March 28. Better be quick.