TAOYUAN – Taiwan and Palau launched what is being billed as Asia-Pacific’s first coronavirus travel bubble today as the two diplomatic allies try to kickstart their battered tourist industries after successfully keeping infections at bay.
Around 100 excited Taiwanese tourists arrived at Taoyuan International Airport near Taipei this 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,” said tourist Andy Yang.
“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 clothes 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.
Both sides have marketed the bubble as a “historic” first for the region.
Governments across Asia-Pacific have struggled to launch travel corridors. A long awaited bubble between Australia and New Zealand is still in the works.
A bubble between Singapore and Hong Kong had to be scrapped late last year after the latter witnessed a sudden spike in infections.
Among those taking the same flight as the first batch of tourists today 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 inaugural holiday flight tested negative for the coronavirus.
Palau lies about 1,000km 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.
Beijing has poached seven of Taiwan’s diplomatic allies, including two in the Pacific, since the 2016 election of President Tsai Ing-wen, as she rejects its stance that the self-ruled democratic island is part of China. – AFP, April 1, 2021
