The Taiwan International Balloon Festival, held in Taitung, is less than two weeks away. But for the first time, Taitung County government says non-local visitors will not be allowed to attend. That''s an effort to stop the festival becoming a COVID superspreader event. Needless to say, barring visitors from the festival is a big setback for local hotels and restaurants.

Li Shu-cha
Taitung hotel owner
It’s a big loss. It would give them hope if we could let the tourists come.

This Taitung hotel owner’s frustration is palpable. She was hoping that the losses of recent months could be balanced by an influx of guests over the festival. Now Taitung County government says only Taitung residents can attend, a move that sparked a wave of hotel cancellations, and hit profits.

Li Shu-cha
Taitung hotel owner
Lots of tourists canceled as soon as they heard Taitung County announce they wouldn’t be allowed into the Festival, not allowed to watch or ride the balloons.

Taitung’s Hot Air Balloon festival began in 2011. Now in its eleventh year, it’s collaborating with Hello Kitty on a special Hello Kitty balloon. But its date has been repeatedly pushed back due to the pandemic. Finally it was scheduled for Aug. 14. Local hotels and restaurants are dismayed that out-of-county visitors will be barred.

Ms. Chen
Taitung restaurant owner
Mostly it’s guests from out of county, and children from other areas coming back to dine with their families.

Yao Ching-ling (July 30)
Taitung commissioner
We ask visitors from out of the county to wait and come to Taitung another time. You’ll be able to see the hot air balloons from 360 degrees with online streaming every day.

The county government will offer a livestream of the event, to allay the disappointments of balloon enthusiasts. But for local businesses, the blow may be harder to stomach.