Print

Mail

wiki links

Tourism may get capital injection

Legislators yesterday proposed a minimum limit for spending on the tourism industry every year in the central government's budget in an effort to increase investment in the sector.

DPP lawmaker Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) told the Taipei Times that "every year the budget approved for the tourism bureau is not enough ... revision of the Tourism Development Law to set a minimum limit would allow the bureau to increase its funds over the long term."

But Chen went further saying that it wouldn't be enough just to allocate a fixed minimum amount of capital for tourism under the central budget. Changes should also include allocating funds directly to local governments for spending on tourism-related projects. This would enlarge the tourism market and make sure everyone got a larger slice of it, Chen said.

A final minimum figure has yet to be determined, but the proportion of the government's budget slated for investment in tourism should consider the amounts spent by other governments, which Chen claimed were often twice as much as in Taiwan.

According to Tourism Bureau data, every year Thailand spends NT$14.7 billion on tourism, Singapore spends NT$15.2 billion, South Korea spends NT$970 million and Hong Kong forks out NT$190 million.

Taiwan's tourism budget has come under increasing observation since a massive earthquake devastated some of Taiwan's main resort areas such as Sun Moon Lake in Nantou County, which have required significant government funds to rebuild.

Officials at the Ministry of Transportation and Communications approved of the proposal, the majority of which legislator Chen said wasn't approved by yesterday evening.

Tan Ho-chen (賀陳旦), vice minister of transportation and communications, said he agreed the tourism budget should be added to that of the central government's but the additional money should be spent in the appropriate areas.

"We should improve past practices where there was too much spending on hotels and resorts," Tan said.

"We should instead strengthen service quality and develop more comprehensive holiday itineraries and facilities to accommodate them," he said.

Initiatives to develop Taiwan's potential as a destination for eco-tourism and boost government spending on the industry were included in a plan submitted to the Cabinet last month by the Council for Economic Planning and Development.

The Cabinet approved the plan which will force the government to invest NT$50 billion in the tourism industry over the next four years, creating 55,000 job opportunities in the process. Last month, Taiwan announced an unemployment rate that was at a 15-year high.
This story has been viewed 2213 times.