Exclusive Approval Logo Helps Selection of Legal Hotels and Guesthouses in Tainan City

Source: Shun-Yong Wu, reports from Tainan, NOWnews, June 7, 2014 19:52

Director of Tainan City Government Tourism Bureau Chun-An Chen called upon visitors not to make online reservations of ‘daily rental suites’, illegally operated suites available for rent on a daily or weekly basis, for which the quality of accommodation and the safety of traveler cannot be guaranteed.

As the tourism industry has flourished in recent years, the Tainan City Government has endeavored to develop tourism more, organizing a series of major events including the Taiwan International Orchid Show, the Meiling Firefly Festival, the Golden Shower Tree Festival, and the Baihe Lotus Festival. During the festivals, hotel accommodation increased and was often full on holidays. As a result, many tourists resorted to internet and phone booking of daily rental suites, which gained in popularity.

On December 29, 2010, the Tourism Bureau of the Ministry of Transportation and Communications issued order Jiao-Lu-Zih No.09900124442, stating that according to the provisions of Paragraph 8, Article 2 of the Act for the Development of Tourism, and Article 2 of the Regulations for the Administration of Tourist Hotel Enterprises, ‘hotel enterprise refers to a profit-taking enterprise other than the tourist hotel enterprise that provides tourists with lodging, rest for a brief period, and other services approved by the central administrative authority.’ Apart from legally operated tourist hotels and guesthouses, other businesses that operate by way of leasing real property to provide accommodation on a daily or weekly basis, to unspecific persons on tourism, business trip, or duty trip, shall obtain hotel registration certificates in accordance with legal regulations before they may operate.

Director Chen said, presenting themselves as guesthouses, the daily rental suites had not actually gone through the legal establishment application procedure. Not only were they not issued hotel or guesthouse registration certificates by the Government, their fire and building facilities did not meet the safety standards of public venues, and could endanger the safety of their guests.

He called upon visitors to Tainan to check out the ‘Taiwan Stay’ or ‘Fun Tainan’ website before their trips, searching for legal accommodation with confirmation of the following logos, and not to stay in unregistered, illegal accommodations or daily rental suites to ensure their own traveling interests and personal safety.