Hotel bookings for upcoming holiday down from last year

Taipei, March 31 (CNA) Hotels around Taiwan may not see as many guests as last year during this year's Tomb Sweeping Festival, with average bookings for the first three days of the April 4 to April 7 long weekend still below 50 percent, according to government figures.

As of March 27, the average booking rate for hotels around Taiwan for the first three days of the long weekend was 49.22 percent, down from an average 55.23 percent booking rate for the first four days of last year's five-day Tomb Sweeping Festival holiday.

The Tourism Administration, which does not look at booking rates for the final day of the holiday because most tourists are usually returning home that day, contended that the general decline was due to a shorter holiday period this year.

It could also be because more Taiwanese are vacationing abroad, no longer affected by COVID-19 considerations. In January 2024, the most recent month for which statistics are available, 1.28 million Taiwanese traveled abroad, up 84 percent from January 2023.

Despite the relative decline in bookings, hotels in 13 cities and counties around Taiwan had booking rates of over 50 percent, Tourism Administration statistics showed.

The highest average booking rate in the 13 localities was 67.43 percent in Lienchiang County, where the Matsu Islands are located, which may be because Matsu's Blue Tears season begins in April.

Blue Tears is the name given to a mysterious natural phenomenon in which parts of the ocean near the Matsu archipelago emit a glowing, blue light, creating a spectacular sight. It is believed to be caused by a type of algae called dinoflagellates.

On April 4 alone, hotels in the city of Tainan and counties of Hualien and Lienchiang were booked at a more than 60 percent rate, according to the tourism bureau's data.

Bookings were even stronger on April 5, exceeding 60 percent on average in hotels in the cities of Taipei, Taichung and Tainan and the counties of Miaoli, Nantou, Chiayi, Pingtung, Hualien, Taitung, and 70 percent in Lienchaing County.

On April 6, Taipei and Lienchiang had average booking rates over 60 percent, the data showed.