TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The tourism sectors at Kenting and the offshore island of Xiaoliuqiu are hoping that COVID woes will end soon after seeing few tourists at the two attractions on the first day of Mother’s Day weekend.

Pingtung HomeStay Association Chairwoman Lin Shu-min (林淑敏) told CNA that the surge in COVID-19 in the country had triggered a downturn in the hotel booking rate for Mother's Day weekend, which fell to about 10-20% of capacity.

The booking situation has worsened since mid-April when the numbers of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the country began to rise sharply, said Hsu Po-han (許博翰), chairman of the Liuqiu Township Tourism Development Association. He attributed the downturn to the high numbers of confirmed cases and their contacts who must undergo quarantine, which resulted in cancellations of family trips, corporate retreats, and group tours.

The number of tourists on the streets on Saturday was about 10-20% compared to the same weekends in previous years, and the tourism sector on the island can do nothing but wait for the woes to end soon, Hsu added.

As of 4 p.m. on Saturday, the number of passengers who had boarded ferries operated by Tai-Fu International Shipping Co was just over 700, which is less than half the amount of ferries operated in recent years, said Tai-Fu Manager Chi Ching-sheng (冀慶生).