The Executive Yuan has approved a plan to extend NT$30 billion (US$952 million) in loans to the tourism sector, which has felt the pinch after a fall in the number of Chinese visitors this year.
The Cabinet said that the loans are aimed at helping domestic tourism businesses upgrade their hardware and software in a bid to improve the quality of the industry and eventually attract more visitors to the nation.
Since the Democratic Progressive Party government took office on May 20, there has been a 30 percent year-on-year decline in the number of Chinese tourists taking part in group tours amid cooling cross-strait ties.
Photo: Liu Pin-chuan, Taipei Times
The number of Chinese visitors was down 15.03 percent year-on-year in July, after falling about 12 percent in May and June.
According to the Hotel Association of the Republic of China (Taiwan), the hotel occupancy rate has dropped by 50 percent, with those in central, southern and eastern Taiwan the hardest-hit.
In addition, the National Joint Association of Buses for Tourists of the Republic of China (Taiwan) said that about 80 percent of a total of 16,000 tourist buses in the nation are idle.
The plunge has caused an outcry from the tourism industry, which has urged the government to provide financial assistance to help companies survive the steep decline.
Members of the tourism industry are planning to stage a demonstration on Monday.
The loans are to be made available to businesses under set circumstances defined by the National Development Council, Executive Yuan spokesman Tung Chen-yuan (童振源) said, adding that the loans are not a form of financial relief.
According to the council’s Guiding Principles on Preferential Loans to Aid the Upgrades of the Tourism Industry (獎勵觀光產業升級優惠貸款要點), companies applying for the loans must use the funding to upgrade their hardware and software to offer better quality tourism.
The Executive Yuan said it would also encourage more Taiwanese to tour the nation and make up for the shortfall in Chinese visitors, while the government would continue in its efforts to diversify the sources of foreign visitors.
The Executive Yuan said that it would help the tourism industry come up with innovative tour packages providing an insightful look at the nation, including its unique cultures, to lure more foreign tourists.
Additional reporting by Lee Hsin-fang
Taiwan is projected to lose a working-age population of about 6.67 million people in two waves of retirement in the coming years, as the nation confronts accelerating demographic decline and a shortage of younger workers to take their place, the Ministry of the Interior said. Taiwan experienced its largest baby boom between 1958 and 1966, when the population grew by 3.78 million, followed by a second surge of 2.89 million between 1976 and 1982, ministry data showed. In 2023, the first of those baby boom generations — those born in the late 1950s and early 1960s — began to enter retirement, triggering
ECONOMIC BOOST: Should the more than 23 million people eligible for the NT$10,000 handouts spend them the same way as in 2023, GDP could rise 0.5 percent, an official said Universal cash handouts of NT$10,000 (US$330) are to be disbursed late next month at the earliest — including to permanent residents and foreign residents married to Taiwanese — pending legislative approval, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. The Executive Yuan yesterday approved the Special Act for Strengthening Economic, Social and National Security Resilience in Response to International Circumstances (因應國際情勢強化經濟社會及民生國安韌性特別條例). The NT$550 billion special budget includes NT$236 billion for the cash handouts, plus an additional NT$20 billion set aside as reserve funds, expected to be used to support industries. Handouts might begin one month after the bill is promulgated and would be completed within
NO CHANGE: The TRA makes clear that the US does not consider the status of Taiwan to have been determined by WWII-era documents, a former AIT deputy director said The American Institute in Taiwan’s (AIT) comments that World War-II era documents do not determine Taiwan’s political status accurately conveyed the US’ stance, the US Department of State said. An AIT spokesperson on Saturday said that a Chinese official mischaracterized World War II-era documents as stating that Taiwan was ceded to the China. The remarks from the US’ de facto embassy in Taiwan drew criticism from the Ma Ying-jeou Foundation, whose director said the comments put Taiwan in danger. The Chinese-language United Daily News yesterday reported that a US State Department spokesperson confirmed the AIT’s position. They added that the US would continue to
IMPORTANT BACKER: China seeks to expel US influence from the Indo-Pacific region and supplant Washington as the global leader, MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng said China is preparing for war to seize Taiwan, Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said in Washington on Friday, warning that Taiwan’s fall would trigger a regional “domino effect” endangering US security. In a speech titled “Maintaining the Peaceful and Stable Status Quo Across the Taiwan Strait is in Line with the Shared Interests of Taiwan and the United States,” Chiu said Taiwan’s strategic importance is “closely tied” to US interests. Geopolitically, Taiwan sits in a “core position” in the first island chain — an arc stretching from Japan, through Taiwan and the Philippines, to Borneo, which is shared by
RSS