Here in Taiwan, we may soon be feeling the after-effect from the catastrophe in Japan. According to the preliminary estimation by the Tourism Bureau, we can expect a dramatic drop of Japanese visitors this year,

by about 200,000 people, with the local tourism looking to face a potential loss of 100 million NT dollars.

Popular tourist destinations such as the old street in Jiufeng and the Northeast Coast scenic area are places where Japanese tourists like to visit when they come to Taiwan. But now, the huge earthquake affects the general public in Japan, who are not in the mood of foreign travels.

This results in as high as 20 percent in cancellation rate in hotel bookings in Taiwan.

According to a preliminary estimation by the Tourism Bureau, the number of Japanese visitor may drop by 200,000 this year.

Japan is Taiwan's second-largest source of foreign visitors, with a total number of 1.08 million visitors last year.

Among them, the percentage of people from disaster-hit area is from 10 to 20%. While the earthquake affects Japanese's willingness to travel, Taiwan's Tourism Bureau is also formulating new strategies, which include enhanced marketing efforts in Japanese cities that are least affected by the earthquake, such as Osaka and Kyusyu.

Some Chinese visitors who plan to visit Japan switch their destination to Taiwan, which effectively lowers the negative impact the earthquake has on Taiwan's tourism industry.

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