Secretary Blinken s Meeting with Palauan President Whipps, Jr miragenews.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from miragenews.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
KOROR (Island Times/Pacnews) — Palau President Surangel Whipps Jr. on Wednesday rejected the call of the Pacific Islands Forum’s new secretary-general, Henry Puna, for a continued political dialogue over Micronesia’s
Republic of Palau- Office of the President
A world-first COVID-safe, quarantine-free “Sterile Corridor” opened today between Palau and Taiwan with the arrival of Palau’s first inbound tourism flight since March 2020. The sold-out China Air flight landed in Palau at around 7:30 pm, carrying Taiwanese travelers eager for their first international vacation in over a year.
Palau’s border has remained closed since March 2020 to keep its local population of 18,000 safe from the risk of COVID-19. Palau is one of the only countries to remain completely COVID-free, but as tourism is Palau’s biggest economic driver, the border closure has had a devastating effect on the country’s economy.
TAIPEI/KOROR (The Guardian/Pacnews) â It launched with a presidential escort and the promise of rare international travel to a postcard-perfect tropical island, but the Taiwan-Palau travel bubble has deflated after just a couple weeks, with Taiwanese bookings dwindling to single figures.Â
Travel agents, consumers and health authorities have blamed the high cost of the tours and the Taiwanese governmentâs strict rules for returning travelers.
The âsterile corridorâ of bilateral tourism guaranteed travel between the two archipelagos, which are both otherwise closed to all tourists, on strictly managed, twice-weekly package tours.
The inaugural flight, packed with nearly 100 passengers including Palauan President Surangel Whipps Jr., boded well, but last week China Airlines announced it had cancelled an upcoming flight from Taipei after just two people booked tickets. The airline told the Guardian it was constantly assessing the situation but it couldnât g
Photo: RNZ Pacific / Bernadette Carreon
Whipps returned to Palau on the Thursday night flight after a four-day visit to Taiwan where he encouraged potential tourists to spend there holidays in the Covid-free Pacific nation.
The flight was the first of a twice-a-week arrangement between Palau and Taiwan which Whipps hoped to be the shot in the arm the country s economy needed.
A vaccination programme in Palau is a one key contributing factor to the decision to slowly open up to tourists.
Whipps said Palau was on its way to reaching herd immunity with at least half of its 18,000 population partially vaccinated by the end of March.