隨著台灣疫情逐步朝向趨緩、穩定方向前進(當然，一定要配合國際認證疫苗的大規模施打)，願台灣旅館業能順利搭上產業復甦列車，在不久的將來與全球旅行大爆發順利接軌。一起看看下方的報導文章，Cheers!

The recent outbreak of COVID-19 has forced many of the island’s hotels to either shut down or drastically reduce their operations. Photo: iStock Photo (近期的新冠肺炎疫情大爆發迫使台灣許多旅館飯店關門歇業或大幅縮減營運規模。圖片來源：圖庫)

The COVID-19 outbreak that began in mid-May has brought hotels to their knees. Without a larger relief package, some may not survive.

For most of the coronavirus pandemic, domestic tourism has been a bright spot for Taiwan’s hotel industry. Many hotels and B&Bs outside of Taipei – which is more reliant on the international market – had a record year in 2020 as Taiwanese vacationed at home instead of overseas.
在新冠疫情中，國內旅遊是台灣旅館產業的亮點之一。出了台北地區，許多過去仰賴國際觀光客的旅店和民宿，都因為民眾選擇在國內度假而在2020年創下新高營收。

All that changed overnight in mid-May, when the government implemented a Level 3 national alert in response to a sharp uptick in COVID-19 cases. The measures do not forbid travel, but they do ban indoor dining and require cultural and entertainment venues like museums and amusement parks to close. Since the alert was announced, occupancy rates at major hotels have plunged into single digits, an unprecedented nadir. Worse yet, hotels cannot fall back on their restaurants for relief as they had done prior to the outbreak. Food and beverage revenue is just a fraction of the normal amount.
5月中旬，政府因應快速上升的確診數，發布全國疫情警戒第三級後，情況迅速生變。防疫規範並未禁止旅行，但下令餐飲內用、文藝、娛樂設施(如博物館、遊樂園等)暫停開放。警戒宣布後，各大旅館的住房率迅速下滑，來到史無前例的個位數低點。更糟的是，旅館無法像疫情爆發前一樣，藉由附設的餐廳招攬顧客。餐飲的營收也僅剩平時的一小部分。

Room occupancy at The Sherwood Taipei, for example, is 8-9%, while F&B revenue is down 80% from the pre-outbreak period, says the hotel’s former general manager* Achim von Hake.
舉例來說，前台北西華飯店總經理*夏基恩（Achim von Hake）表示，目前住房率僅剩下8~9%，餐飲收入和疫情爆發前相比也減少八成。

*筆者按：目前台北西華飯店總經理應仍為夏基恩 (連結為領英網站)
  2021/08/29更新: 依2021/08/16的新聞報導，確實已經改任職於花蓮新酒店開發案的總經理，商會所言為實，早於公開報導。

“What really, really hurt was the ban on indoor dining. That was the last straw,” says Steven Pan, executive chairman of Formosa International Hotels Corp. (FIH)*, which owns the Regent, Silks, and Just Sleep brands. The restrictions have forced FIH to temporarily suspend operations at some of its hotels, while others are being used to accommodate medical personnel or for quarantines. 
晶華酒店集團*(旗下飯店品牌包括晶華、晶英與捷絲旅等)董事長潘思亮（Steven Pan）表示，「禁止內用是壓垮旅館業的最後一根稻草」。這些禁令迫使晶華集團暫停部分據點營運，還有數間飯店被徵為隔離旅館或供防疫人員居住。

*筆者按: 原文中譯為「麗晶酒店集團」而英文原文使用的是集團註冊名稱「Formosa International Hotels Corporation」， 依實際中文名稱應為「晶華國際酒店集團」，英文名稱則採用「Silks Hotel Group」(前身曾稱作 FIH Regent Group)。晶華酒店集團雖然在2010年收購「麗晶酒店集團」，但後來於2018年與洲際集團共同成立合資公司「Regent Hospitality Worldwide (RHW)」，洲際集團以持有51%的合資公司股份主導全球麗晶酒店的管理經營與開發，而晶華國際酒店集團目前能分得49%合資公司的收益。依近年的股東大會季、年報內的備註來看，晶華在麗晶酒店的品牌使用上已限縮於台北晶華酒店的單一酒店範圍內使用，其餘歸洲際集團管理。另外，唯晶華國際酒店集團才有「麗晶(Regent)」以外的酒店品牌及據點。

“Right now, the hotel industry might as well be on Level 4,” says Pan, referring to Taiwan’s highest COVID-19 alert level. “The only thing we can do is food delivery and takeaway.”
潘思亮董事長接著說：「旅館業現在就跟四級警戒沒兩樣。我們唯一能做的只剩餐飲外帶與外送。」

Randy Zupanski, general manager of Shangri-La’s Far Eastern Plaza Taipei, says that the hotel’s event business has ground to a complete halt for the foreseeable future. “Weddings for July and August are all canceled.”
香格里拉台北遠東國際大飯店總經理祖睿德（Randy Zupanski）也表示未來短期內，宴會等一切活動都已經中止：「7、8月份的婚宴都全數取消。」

He asks how hotels can maintain staff if there is no business coming in and no work for them to do. For a time, “they [staff] can use their annual leave and they can take voluntary unpaid leave. But at a certain point, what do you do?”
他同時質疑，飯店要如何在無工作可做的情況下，仍維持聘用現有的員工？短時間內，「員工或許能把年假休一休，或自願放無新假。但一段時間之後，又該怎麼辦呢？」

CK Cheng, founder and CEO of vacation-rental platform AsiaYo, says that hotels in Taiwan currently fall into three categories. “25-30% have suspended operations, another 25-30% have drastically reduced operations, and the rest are thinking about choosing one of those two options,” he says.
AsiaYo 創辦人與執行長鄭兆剛表示，現在台灣旅館業大約可分成三種狀況：約25~30%暫停營業、另外25~30%大幅減少營業，剩下的則正在猶豫要採取上述哪一種作法。 

After Taiwan entered Level 3, AsiaYo’s bookings fell 95% year-on-year. More than one-half of the B&Bs that use the platform have temporarily shut down. “What really surprised us is that some B&Bs are not taking bookings through August, which shows they are not optimistic at all about the situation,” Cheng says.
進入三級警戒後，AsiaYo 網站的訂房數和去年相比大幅縮減95%，超過一半的民宿都選擇暫時歇業。「讓我們驚訝的是，不少民宿甚至決定不接受8月底以前的預訂。這顯示他們認為未來情況毫不樂觀。」

就連符合防疫規範、供入境者14天隔離時投宿的防疫旅館，現在也都受盡折磨，且三級警戒發布後，未持有居留證的外籍人士暫時無法入境，海外入境也隨之減少。此外，由於台灣不像之前沒有疫情，旅居國外的台灣民眾也多打消回國念頭。再者，政府部分放寬居家隔離規定，由一戶一人改為一間一人，因此許多民眾選擇在家隔離，省下每日1500~3000元新台幣的住宿費。

Following several confirmed cases of the COVID-19 Delta variant on the island, international arrivals to Taiwan are no longer allowed to quarantine at home. Photo: iStock Photo (由於數起新冠肺炎 Delta病毒在台灣現蹤，政府已於6月底取消居家防疫措施。圖片來源：圖庫)

Yet the Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) pushed ahead with a plan to make 20,000 additional hotel rooms available for quarantine purposes, creating a supply glut. According to The Taipei Times, the average occupancy rate at quarantine hotels fell to 39% in early June from 59.7% on May 19, the day Taiwan implemented the Level 3 restrictions. Occupancy may begin increasing again, however, as several confirmed cases of the coronavirus’ more transmissible delta variant forced the government to nix the home quarantine option altogether in late June. All international arrivals will now need to stay in quarantine hotels or government quarantine centers.
讓情況雪上加霜的是，交通部更推動計劃，新增額外20000間用於隔離與防疫的房間，使供需更加失衡。《台北時報》報導，防疫旅館六月初的住房率在5月19日(三級警戒宣布當天)從59.7%下滑至39%。不過， 由於傳染性更強的Delta病毒於台灣現蹤，6月底政府取消居家防疫措施，規定入境旅客必須待在防疫旅館或政府核可的隔離中心，因此防疫旅館的住房率預計將再次提升。

Stronger relief needed (亟需強心針)

Amid these tough circumstances, hoteliers say that they need substantial government support to help them stay afloat. Yet thus far, the relief package for the tourism industry is no higher than in the spring of 2020, when the situation was less dire. At that time, the government offered up to a 40% wage subsidy – a maximum of NT$20,000 per employee – for hotels (as well as tour operators and restaurants) that maintained normal operations and provided vocational training to their staff.
在艱困時局中，飯店業者籲請政府提供協助，讓他們度過難關。但目前為止，針對旅遊產業的紓困方案，並沒有優於情況較不厭重的2020年春季——當時政府給予持續營業、並提供職業訓練的旅館（以及旅行社、餐廳）40%員工薪資補貼（上限為每人新台幣2萬元）。

Shangri-La’s Zupanski suggests that the government evaluate hotels’ subsidy needs by location. “The overhead cost of operating a hotel in downtown Taipei is much greater than in a less prime location. A one-size-fits-all solution doesn’t make any sense,” he says.
祖睿德建議政府依照地區，衡量業者所需的補助：「在台北市中心經營旅店的成本當然遠高於相對非核心的地區。齊頭式的補助標準毫無道理。」

Shangri-La’s Far Eastern Plaza Hotel Taipei has suspended its event business for the summer. With nearly no guests, the staff is left without tasks to perform. Photo: Shangri-La’s Far Eastern Plaza Hotel Taipei (香格里拉台北遠東國際大飯店已暫停今年夏季的會議宴會業務。由於幾近無客人，飯店員工也無事可做。(圖片：香格里拉台北遠東國際大飯店)

FIH’s Pan urges the government to provide subsidies covering 75-80% of employee salaries, rent reductions for hotels on state-owned land, and tax breaks of 18 to 24 months. He says that because businesses have been hit so much harder this year, a massive support package is called for.
潘思亮認為，基於飯店業今年受到更劇烈衝擊，公部門應祭出更有力的援助措施。他敦促政府針對員工薪資提供75~80%補助、減少公有土地租金，並在未來18~24個月內降低稅賦。

“The relief package should cover double the number of people because indoor dining has shut down,” he says. The current support package, which lasts through July and provides the same 40% subsidy wage subsidy as last year, “is not even close to enough.”
潘思亮說：「現在連內用都禁止，所以相關措施至少應該涵蓋多兩倍的員工。維持現行的40%補助『完全不夠』。」

Pan worries that unless a large relief package is forthcoming, the nation’s hotel industry could see a wave of closures that foments a broader unemployment spike. Temporary suspensions of operations could become permanent, he says. “A lot of hotel owners will be thinking, ‘Hey, should I just stay shut?’ It might make more sense” from a financial perspective.
潘思亮也擔心，除非政府近期端出足夠補貼方案，否則旅館業將迎來一波倒閉潮，暫停營業轉變為永久歇業，使失業率再度攀升：「很多飯店老闆都會想：『到底該不該繼續休業？』從經濟角度來看，這樣的決定似乎很有道理。」

By the end of May, 40 hotels in Yilan County had shut down and 50 in Hualien County had either partially or completely suspended operations, according to The Taipei Times.
《台北時報》報導，截至5月底，宜蘭已有40間旅店歇業，花蓮更有50間旅館暫時或永久停業。

Chen Ming-ming, founder and CEO of travel activity booking platform KKday, says the government needs to financially support the hotel industry until a recovery begins. He acknowledgesthat it could take several months, as Taiwan has to first get the COVID-19 outbreak under control before it can ease restrictions. It will take still more time before most Taiwanese feel comfortable traveling again.
KKday創辦人執行長陳明明認為，在大環境好轉前，政府必須為旅館業提供經濟援助。他坦承，妥善控制疫情、鬆綁相關限制可能耗時數月；要人們再次放心出遊，則需花上更久時間。

Like FIH’s Pan, he advises the government to substantially increase the relief package. “Many countries provide 80% of an employee’s salary, while Taiwan has given only 40%,” Chen says. If the subsidies are not increased, hotels that are not fiscally fit may go bankrupt, he adds.
與潘思亮的看法相同，陳明明也建議政府提高補助金比率：「許多國家都提供受雇者80%薪資的補貼，但台灣現行標準仍只有40%。」他補充，若補助金額不足，許多旅館將面臨破產和倒閉。

Waiting on a recovery (等待景氣復甦)

To contain the current outbreak of COVID-19, Taiwan has relied primarily on restricting people’s movement and contact with one another while ramping up testing and contact tracing. The strategy has borne fruit, with case numbers steadily falling from a daily peak of nearly 600 in late May to mostly double-digits by the end of June. However, vaccination – likely the only way to effectively end the pandemic in Taiwan – remains a work in progress. Delivery of vaccines to Taiwan has been slow. As of late June, only about 8% of the island’s 23.5 million people had been inoculated.
目前，台灣主要藉由限制民眾移動與群聚、擴大篩檢並追蹤確診者足跡等方法對抗疫情。這些努力已收到一定成效——每日確診數從5月下旬的近600例，逐步減少至6月底的數十例。不過，可能有效終止疫情的唯一手段——疫苗接種還在進行中，台灣疫苗到貨速度仍緩慢。6月下旬為止，全台2350萬人中，僅有約8%完成施打*。

*筆者按: 8月10日的全台疫苗接種覆蓋率已達37.11% (已完成第一劑接種者)

The slow rate of vaccination has some hoteliers concerned. “Before this outbreak, many people didn’t even want to take the vaccine,” says Shangri-La’s Zupanski. “Now everybody wants to take it, but supply is inadequate.
部分旅館業者對此擔心不已。祖睿德（香格里拉台北遠東國際大飯店總經理）表示：「疫情爆發前，許多民眾甚至不願意施打疫苗；現在大家都想打，但供給量卻不夠。」

“The Food & Beverage business and events won’t come back until the population is somewhat vaccinated,” he says. “We might be in this situation for a while.”
祖睿德說：「在接種率達一定比例前，餐飲業商機、社交活動都不會回歸。我們可能還要再等上一陣子。」

During Taiwan’s long COVID-free streak in 2020, when it did not record a local case for more than eight months, Shangri-La’s event business did well. However, it dropped off sharply in December 2020 and January 2021, when the virus crept back into the country. Although Taiwan managed to avoid a large outbreak – notably by containing a cluster of infections at a Taoyuan hospital* – events at the hotel took several months to recover.
2020年間，台灣曾長達8個月無新增案例，當時香格里拉台北遠東國際大飯店的會議宴會業績十分理想。不過從2020年底到2021年年初，受桃園醫院*群聚感染事件影響，營運狀況大幅受挫。儘管(台灣)成功將疫情控制在醫院之內，香格里拉台北遠東國際大飯店的會議宴會業績仍花費數月才逐漸恢復中。

*筆者按：指「衛生福利部桃園醫院」。

Based on that experience, even if Taiwan contains the COVID-19 outbreak in July and some events are permitted again, “we won’t see any buildup of events until October,” Zupanski says.
根據這次經驗，就算台灣能在7月份控制疫情、開放部分活動限制，祖睿德認為情況在10月前都不會恢復。

For hotels in Taipei, business levels will return to a “manageable situation” only when border restrictions are eased, and international travel is restored. He expects that to happen in mid-2022.
而對台北地區的旅館而言，他評估得等到2022年中段，入境相關限制解除、國際旅客再次到訪後才會好轉。

Indeed, Taipei hotels could not take full advantage of the domestic tourism surge that took place between last year and early 2021. Since the pandemic began in early 2020, “Taipei hotels have had a really tough time,” says Ping Lee, head of research in Taiwan for property consultancy CBRE. “Without international guests, they can only fill so many rooms.”
的確，台北的旅館飯店在2020年至2021年初的國內旅遊熱潮中未能獲得多少收益。世邦魏理仕集團研究部主管李嘉玶表示，2020年初疫情開始後，台北的飯店處境相當艱難：「沒了海外旅客，國內遊客無法撐起高住房率。」

For instance, The Sherwood Taipei reached about 50% occupancy on weekends with its popular staycation packages, but weekdays were not as busy, says general manager von Hake.
舉例而言，台北西華飯店因推出受歡迎的套裝行程，週末住房率可達五成，但週間情況就沒有這麼樂觀。

The Regent Taipei’s overall occupancy was 50% in 2020, compared to 80% in 2019, says FIH chairman Pan.
潘思亮表示，相比2019年80%的住房率，台北晶華酒店2020年平均住房率僅為50%。

Photo: Regent Taipei (圖片：台北晶華酒店)

Data compiled by CBRE show just how dependent hotels in the capital city are on the international market. In the first quarter of 2019, occupancy in Taipei hotels was 74.68%. By the first quarter of 2021, it had fallen to 30.24%. CBRE estimates Taipei hotels will suffer their worst year on record in 2021. In contrast, occupancy in Tainan, a popular domestic tourism destination, had slightly increased to 64.49% in the January-March period from 63.16% two years earlier.
世邦魏理仕集團提供的資訊，更證明國際旅客對台北的飯店有多重要。2019年第一季，台北各飯店住房率為74.68%，這個數字在2021年第一季大幅滑落至30.24%。集團更預估台北飯店業者將在2021創下營收歷史新低。相反地，廣受國內旅遊青睞的台南2021年1~3月住房率，反而比兩年前表現更佳（從63.16%微幅上升至64.49%）。

While the restoration of international travel remains integral to Taipei hotels in the long run, a revival of the domestic market would likely be sufficient in the short run to ward off disaster. Once the outbreak is contained, the question becomes, when do people feel it is safe to travel? 
儘管長期而言，國際旅客對台北飯店業者仍然不可或缺，但國旅的復甦能讓飯店服務業有望在短期內避免更大的衝擊。當疫情獲得控制後，最大的問題將變成民眾什麼時候能再次安心出遊？

“It is true that Taiwanese are very risk averse,” observes AsiaYo’s Cheng. Yet based on past experience, he says there is reason for cautious optimism. He notes that Taiwan’s travel market cratered during the SARS outbreak in the winter and spring of 2003, but recovered by June. Last year, it plummeted in March and April as the pandemic’s severity became clear, but picked up in May and by June was on a record-setting pace.
鄭兆剛（AsiaYo創辦人兼執行長）表示， 2002年底至2003年春季SARS席捲台灣，當時旅遊業約在6月份恢復。本次疫情自2020年3、4月開始，而在國內狀況不嚴重的情況下，景氣於5月份改善並在6月份就已復甦，步調可說是史上最快。儘管台灣民眾對風險十分敏感，但根據過去經驗，未來展望是審慎樂觀的

“When the rebound comes this time, it will be strong and fast,” he says.
鄭兆剛說：「預期這波復甦會來得又快又強。」

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