Civil servant travel plan no picnic

Civil servants have given the thumbs down to a government-backed credit card issued for use on domestic travel, officials at the Consumers' Foundation (消基會), said yesterday.

"Under the credit-card travel plan, there are not enough destination choices and they are, on average, too costly," the foundation's secretary-general Cheng Jen-hung (程仁宏) said at a press conference yesterday.

In an effort to boost the local tourism industry, the plan -- launched early last month -- offers government officials a NT$16,000 annual subsidy to be spent on designated tourist facilities.

However, the subsidy cannot be spent in the recipient's home city or county.

Cheng said that the foundation received many complaints from card users, who said the plan hindered their travel arrangements because they were not free to choose where they wanted to visit.

Some government workers said prices at government-designated travel partners were unreasonably inflated.

"It's actually a waste of taxpayers' money," Cheng said.

Attorney Chang Hsieh-hai (張學海) told the the press conference that "Competition is not providing consumers' with better prices."

Another complaint is that cardholders are not allowed to use the cards on weekends, preventing participation by family members.

Cheng also said that the government is too strict in refusing to allow civil servants to plan trips close to their homes.

"It's a ridiculous rule, since many people prefer to spend time at tourist attractions close to home," Cheng said, adding that credit-card issuers did not provide people with many card options.

The five major banks participating in the plan are: Chinatrust Commercial Bank (中國信託商銀), E. Sun Commercial Bank (玉山銀行), Grand Commercial Bank (萬通銀行), First Commercial Bank (第一銀行) and Hua Nan Commercial Bank (華南銀行).

The foundation urged the government to fine-tune the plan by increasing the number of contracted outlets and by setting up a complaint hotline.

Government officials at the press conference defended the travel plan, saying that the goal is to boost local tourism.

The plan is still undergoing revision, said Tseng Wen-ching (曾文清), deputy director of the manpower planning department at the Council for Economic Planning and Development.

Tseng said that the government is slated to call a meeting by early next month to review the plan and come up with improvements.

Tseng expressed a hope that more government officials would take advantage of the plan to stimulate the development of the domestic tourism industry.

He added that prices may begin to fall once more people participate in the scheme.

Kuo Hung-chu (郭洪珠), a Tourism Bureau official, said his agency is working to recruit more tourist outlets to sign contracts with the government.

He said that there are currently 5,900 contracted outlets nationwide and a total of 480,000 cards have been issued to civil servants.