The Tourism Bureau will launch a series of activities, including inviting 99 foreign couples to the scenic Mount Hehuan in central Taiwan and providing foot massages to 1,000 people at the Taipei Arena, to promote tourism, bureau director-general Janice Lai (
She said that Hehuanshan (
Lai made the remarks when reporting on the "2008-2009 Tour Taiwan Years" project. Lai is the executive director of the project.
She said that through such promotions the number of foreign tourists could grow by 7 percent in the next two years, and tourism revenues would reach NT$390 billion (US$12.03 billion).
Lai said that the bureau is also preparing to increase subsidies to draw foreign visitors, noting that subsidies of NT$30 million have already provided for 100 charter planes bringing 15,000 visitors this year and that subsidies will be raised to NT$50 million next year to bring 20,000 visitors.
Foreign cruise ships will also be given subsidies if they make stopovers in Taiwan, Lai said, adding that the plan, which will be put into practice in July, will provide US$10,000 in subsidies for cruise ships carrying 500 passengers, and US$30,000 for those with 2,000 passengers or more.
Meanwhile, to encourage foreign travel agencies to promote tourism in Taiwan, the Tourism Bureau will share expenses for printing Taiwanese tourism package folders or running tourism advertisements, Lai said.
The 2009 Deaf Olympics and the 2009 World Games in Taiwan will help promote tourism other international sports events, such as baseball championships, marathons and cycling races, will also help to draw visitors, she said.
To develop a broad tourism base, the bureau will promote winter golfing trips to Taiwan in Japan and South Korea.
Targeting those who enjoy rail travel, the Tourism Bureau will also have high speed rail, Taiwan Railway travel and steam rail package tours.
Noting that Taiwan's popular singing group F4 has a strong following in Japan and South Korea, the bureau will ask the group to continue to serve as spokesmen for the nation's tourism, while popular singer Jolin Tsai (蔡依林) will serve as spokeswoman in Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia.
To tap into the market of the 2 million visitors making transit stops in Taiwan every year, the tourism bureau will also cooperate with air carriers to offer short-stay packages, such as a US$97 tour of Taiwan, and half-day tour activities.
“China is preparing to invade Taiwan,” Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) said in an exclusive interview with British media channel Sky News for a special report titled, “Is Taiwan ready for a Chinese invasion?” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said today in a statement. The 25-minute-long special report by Helen Ann-Smith released yesterday saw Sky News travel to Penghu, Taoyuan and Taipei to discuss the possibility of a Chinese invasion and how Taiwan is preparing for an attack. The film observed emergency response drills, interviewed baseball fans at the Taipei Dome on their views of US President
ECONOMIC BENEFITS: The imports from Belize would replace those from Honduras, whose shrimp exports have dropped 67 percent since cutting ties in 2023 Maintaining ties with Taiwan has economic benefits, Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials said yesterday, citing the approval of frozen whiteleg shrimp imports from Belize by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as an example. The FDA on Wednesday approved the tariff-free imports from Belize after the whiteleg shrimp passed the Systematic Inspection of Imported Food, which would continue to boost mutual trade, the ministry said. Taiwan’s annual consumption of whiteleg shrimps stands at 30,000 tonnes, far exceeding domestic production, the ministry said. Taiwan used to fill the gap by importing shrimps from Honduras, but purchases slumped after Tegucigalpa severed diplomatic ties with Taiwan
The Executive Yuan yesterday approved a southwestern extension of the Sanying MRT Line from New Taipei to Bade District (八德) in Taoyuan, with a goal of starting construction by late 2026. The 4.03-kilometer extension, featuring three new stations, will run from the current terminus at Yingtao Fude Station (LB12) in New Taipei City to Dannan Station (LB14), where it will connect with Taoyuan’s Green Line, New Taipei City Metro Corp said in a statement. This extension will follow the completion of core Sanying Line, a 14.29-kilometer medium-capacity system linking Tucheng (土城), Sansia (三峽)
CARGO LOSS: About 50 containers at the stern of the ‘Ever Lunar’ cargo ship went overboard, prompting the temporary closure of the port and disrupting operations Evergreen Marine Corp, Taiwan’s largest container shipper, yesterday said that all crew members aboard the Ever Lunar (長月) were safe after dozens of containers fell overboard off the coast of Peru the previous day. The incident occurred at 9:40am on Friday as the Ever Lunar was anchored and waiting to enter the Port of Callao when it suddenly experienced severe rolling, Evergreen said in a statement. The rolling, which caused the containers to fall, might have been caused by factors including a tsunami triggered by an earthquake in Russia, poor winter sea conditions in South America or a sudden influx of waves,
RSS