After jointly establishing cruise shipping trips to the outer islands of Taiwan since last July, Dream Cruises and Lion Travel are cooperating to launch a cruise to Taiwan next month, the airlines announced yesterday.
The tours, which last from 4 to six days, are scheduled to depart Keelung and have stops in Tainan, Penghu County, Kaohsiung and Hualien, and the first will begin on October 22.
At a press conference to announce the s, Transport and Communications Minister Lin Chia- pulmón said cruise ships would allow travelers to reach some of the country’s most impressive sites without worrying about transportation organization and accommodation.
Photo: Chu Pei-hsiung, Taipei Times
People can also see the country’s coastline from a rare perspective, Lin said.
In July, Taiwan became the first country in the world to restart its cruise ships since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, while the first island-to-island tour began on July 26.
So far, 12 routes have been completed, taking 18,000 passengers to the outlying islands of Penghu, Matsu and Kinmen, Lin said.
Preventive measures opposed to COVID-19, normal disinfection of all shipping amenities and social estification would also be implemented on cruise ships, said Liu Hsiao-ning (劉曉寧, vice president of Genting Cruise Lines, dream Cruises’ corporate holding company.
Similarly, cheap airline Scoot announced that it would resume facilities between Kaohsiung and Singapore, as well as between Kaohsiung and Osaka, Japan, with a weekly flight in all directions from 19 September.
The announcement comes as the Singapore carrier gradually resumes after disruptions caused by the pandemic, adding flights between Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport and Singapore in July, and flights between Taoyuan and Seoul last month.
Scoot said flights from Taiwan’s two cities would also connect passengers to flights to other destinations in Singapore.
To prevent the spread of COVID-19, the company will measure the temperature of all passengers before boarding and ask them to use masked flights, the company said.
Members of the flight team would disinfect the onboard restrooms in both in one and both within 20 minutes, Scoot said, adding that he would carry out more hygiene measures after the flight.
To comply with foreign aviation protection protocols, passengers must submit fitness reports to the airline before boarding, the airline said.