President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday said cross-strait flights have benefited large enterprises and small businesses, and the number of tourists to Taiwan is expected to reach 5 million next year.
Citing government statistics, Ma, in his capacity as Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) chairman, said that because of cross-strait flights, the number of Chinese tourists last year increased five to six times the number recorded in 2008, which he said contributed to an annual growth in tourism of 14.3 percent in the midst of a global financial crisis.
“Some challenged the government’s cross-strait policies and said only big enterprises profited from the policies, but that is not true,” Ma said yesterday when presiding over the KMT Central Standing Committee. “Small hotels, eateries, transportation companies and department stores all benefited from the increasing number of Chinese tourists brought by cross-strait flights.”
Tourism Bureau Director-General Janice Lai (賴瑟珍) gave a presentation on the government’s plan to attract more tourists to Taiwan at the committee and said the number of international tourists in Taiwan was expected to hit 5 million next year.
She said the bureau would promote popular attractions to tourists by offering various discounts and designing different activities.
Ma said the government would devote more effort to promoting tourism to bring NT$500 billion (US$15.58 billion) in tourism revenue to Taiwan this year.
“Tourism is an industry that will not leave or be moved away because it creates revenue by attracting people to spend money here,” Ma said.
The government will put NT$30 billion into the industry this year and the private sector is also investing an estimated NT$25 billion to build and reconstruct hotels to improve the quality of tourism in Taiwan.
RSS