Cabinet looking for new ways to lure more tourists

In a bid to double the annual number of foreign tourists visiting Taiwan from the current 2.6 million to 5 million by 2008, the Executive Yuan yesterday approved the idea of allowing Malaysians to enter the country without first obtaining a visa, starting Nov. 1.

Malaysia will become the 24th country whose people are not required to obtain a visa before they come to Taiwan.

"Malaysia is one of the Southeast Asian countries that has a promising potential tourism market," said Su Cheng-tien (蘇成田), director-general of the Tourism Bureau under the Ministry of Transportation and Communications. "I believe our initiative will help bring in more people to visit Taiwan."

Su made the remark after the three-hour closed-door meeting of the Cabinet's tourism promotion commission where Premier Yu Shyi-kun serves as the convenor.

The commission also approved expanding the flight frequency, destinations and aviation routes from Taiwan to Japan.

"As we'll make continuous efforts to negotiate with Japan over these issues, we're thinking of making the four weekly chartered flights from Taiwan to Japan's northernmost island, Hokkaido, regular flights," Su said.

"We'll also work on making the five destinations for chartered flights in Japan either regular aviation routes or regular chartered destinations."

In addition, the commission decided to let the Construction and Planning Administration (營建署) take over the management of the Paiyun Villa situated at the Yushan National Park.

The villa, the only resting point on the main peak, is currently managed by the Taiwan Forestry Bureau (林務局) under the Council of Agriculture.

The commission might also construct a cable-car system in Ali Mountain, a popular tourist attraction in Chiayi County, to help overcome the problem of traffic congestion during summer and typhoon seasons.

To attract more young international students to visit and study in Taiwan, the commission agreed to expand an education and travel program initiated by the Ministry of Education in December 2000. The plan targets students from Japan, South Korea and Southeast Asian countries and encourages schools to offer classes.

"It not only helps the international students understand Taiwan in a leisurely and educational way, but also helps upgrade Taiwan's international image and internationalization in the long run," Su said.

Statistics show that Japanese tourists topped the list of foreign visitors last year, with 977,705 in total. Of those, 2,367 came here for educational purposes.

To push for eco-education, the commission said that related ministries should hammer out a plan to encourage high school students to scale the 10 summits in Taiwan.

"We're thinking of starting with some 20 collegial mountain-climbing associations, and we'll go from there," said Minister Without Portfolio Lin Sheng-feng (林盛豐).

Meanwhile, the Executive Yuan is soliciting volunteers to guide the tours of the Executive Yuan, which is scheduled to be open to the public on Jan. 1 next year.

Recruits will have to complete 12-hour basic or professional training courses and undergo a three-month trial before they are sent to the job.

The Cabinet will offer a small transportation and food allowance for volunteer guides.

In line with the Cultural Heritage Preservation Law,which stipulates that historic relics should be open to the pubic for visits, the Cabinet has decided to open a 62-year-old building to the public for regular visits.

The building, which was declared a national historic site in 1998, was once used as a school and government offices during the Japanese colonial era.

During the KMT regime, it was once the administrative building of the Taiwan Provincial Government.

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