After a lull in American visitors to Taiwan last year, the number of US visitors increased by 17 percent this year, according to figures released by the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office (TECO) in New York yesterday.
A total of 346,250 Americans visited the nation between January and last month, with tourism showing the greatest increase, according to Michael Chang (張政源), the head of TECO's tourism division.
He said that, despite a push to step up tourism campaigns in New York in 2002, figures had dropped last year because of the SARS epidemic and the war in Iraq. After a record high of 370,000 visits from the US was recorded in 2002, the figure fell to under 300,000 last year. In light of last year's performance, Chang called this year's tourism figures "not bad," but said that the government hopes to attract 460,000 visitors next year.
During a press conference earlier this year, officials set a goal of 380,000 visits this year, saying they planned to achieve this target with promotions and special events during national holidays.
Chang said that the increase over last year was in part the result of the efforts the tourism division had made in bringing airline carriers and travel agencies together to offer competitive travel packages.
There are currently at least 35 travel agencies in the US offering travel packages to Taiwan with a total of roughly 50 different itineraries to choose from, Chang said.
In addition, advertisements featuring the slogan "Naruwan, Welcome to Taiwan," which the Tourism Bureau had selected for its promotional material, were placed in some Chinese-language newspapers in the US, along with mainstream media, including The New York Times and USA Today. Features on tourist attractions were also advertised.
In the upcoming year, the tourism division's strategy for increasing tourism figures will include targeting overseas Chinese in the US and working with travel agencies that offer travel packages in Asia.
Chang noted that adding Taiwan to itineraries in the Asian region would help boost the country's "stopover tourism."
US climber Alex Honnold is to attempt to scale Taipei 101 without a rope and harness in a live Netflix special on Jan. 24, the streaming platform announced on Wednesday. Accounting for the time difference, the two-hour broadcast of Honnold’s climb, called Skyscraper Live, is to air on Jan. 23 in the US, Netflix said in a statement. Honnold, 40, was the first person ever to free solo climb the 900m El Capitan rock formation in Yosemite National Park — a feat that was recorded and later made into the 2018 documentary film Free Solo. Netflix previewed Skyscraper Live in October, after videos
Starting on Jan. 1, YouBike riders must have insurance to use the service, and a six-month trial of NT$5 coupons under certain conditions would be implemented to balance bike shortages, a joint statement from transportation departments across Taipei, New Taipei City and Taoyuan announced yesterday. The rental bike system operator said that coupons would be offered to riders to rent bikes from full stations, for riders who take out an electric-assisted bike from a full station, and for riders who return a bike to an empty station. All riders with YouBike accounts are automatically eligible for the program, and each membership account
NUMBERS IMBALANCE: More than 4 million Taiwanese have visited China this year, while only about half a million Chinese have visited here Beijing has yet to respond to Taiwan’s requests for negotiation over matters related to the recovery of cross-strait tourism, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. Taiwan’s tourism authority issued the statement after Chinese-language daily the China Times reported yesterday that the government’s policy of banning group tours to China does not stop Taiwanese from visiting the country. As of October, more than 4.2 million had traveled to China this year, exceeding last year. Beijing estimated the number of Taiwanese tourists in China could reach 4.5 million this year. By contrast, only 500,000 Chinese tourists are expected in Taiwan, the report said. The report
Temperatures are forecast to drop steadily as a continental cold air mass moves across Taiwan, with some areas also likely to see heavy rainfall, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. From today through early tomorrow, a cold air mass would keep temperatures low across central and northern Taiwan, and the eastern half of Taiwan proper, with isolated brief showers forecast along Keelung’s north coast, Taipei and New Taipei City’s mountainous areas and eastern Taiwan, it said. Lows of 11°C to 15°C are forecast in central and northern Taiwan, Yilan County, and the outlying Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties, and 14°C to 17°C
RSS