Tour Taiwan campaign debuts

The Executive Yuan is pumping NT$1 billion (US$31.5 million) into a two-year national tourism campaign that aims to increase the number of overseas tourists to 4.25 million by the end of this year.

The campaign, titled Tour Taiwan 2008-2009, debuted in a ceremony yesterday. Premier Chang Chun-hsiung (張俊雄) said the Executive Yuan hopes to generate foreign exchange income of NT$192.1 billion.

Minister of Transportation and Communications Tsai Duei (蔡堆) said that the nation drew more than 3.7 million overseas visitors last year, registering a growth of close to 6 percent compared to 2006.

Tsai noted the increase of Japanese tourists. While rising oil prices have prevented many Japanese from traveling overseas, Tsai said Taiwan is the only country in the world with a positive growth in Japanese tourists last year.

Tsai the nation has also seen growth in domestic travel. Despite the cold weather, the number of domestic travelers increased 4 percent over this year's Lunar New Year holiday compared to last year.

Tourism Bureau's director general Janice Lai (賴瑟珍) said yesterday that the campaign has several crucial tasks to accomplish. She said that the bureau would introduce 11 travel arrangements for overseas visitors, each featuring a different theme.

Lai the bureau would also identify some of the most interesting events around the nation and use them to promote Taiwan. The annual Taiwan Lantern Festival, for example, has been held for 19 years and has a worldwide reputation. She confirmed yesterday that staff from the Discovery Channel had arrived to film the festival as well as other local events.

Lai mentioned the World Games and Deaflympics, scheduled to be held next year in Kaohsiung and Taipei respectively, as another great opportunity to let the world see Taiwan.

"We want to show our friends from overseas that Taiwan has activities going on every month and each county offers different activities," she said.

For backpackers, Lai said that the bureau would offer tour packages that contain free tickets for the MRT, a theme park and hotsprings during Tour Taiwan.

The bureau would also reward organizations arranging group tours to Taiwan, such as cruise line operators.

The bureau it would also reward the one-millionth, two-millionth, three-millionth and four-millionth travelers of the year. They will be rewarded with credit of NT$100,000, NT$200,000, NT$300,000 and NT$400,000 respectively on their credit cards.