The outlying Matsu island group is launching a drive to attract more foreign tourists in the hope that a boost to local tourism can prevent its marginalization amid seemingly warmer ties between Taiwan and China.
“If Matsu does not try to leverage its geographic advantages, its economy will be marginalized as cross-strait direct flights are now running at full steam,” Lianjiang County Government Tourism Bureau director Tsao Erh-yuen (曹爾元) said.
Matsu, an archipelago in the Taiwan Strait, lies 190km from Keelung and 19km from the Chinese coast, and is administered by Taiwan as part of Lianjiang County.
Tsao said that the local economy received a boost in 2001 after the implementation of the “small three links” that allow limited postal, transport and trade links between several Chinese cities and Kinmen and Matsu.
However, since direct flights, shipping and postal routes between Taiwan proper and China were fully implemented in 2008, Matsu has become merely a “stopover” en route to Taiwan for Chinese tourists, Tsao added.
“Generally speaking, our local tourism really needs a shot in the arm,” he said.
The Lianjiang County tourism bureau said that total tourist arrivals to Matsu were about 20,000 in 2004, increasing to more than 80,000 last year. Kinmen attracts far more travelers than Matsu — a 5-1 ratio.
For this reason, Matsu, which is known for its liquor production, traditional Fujianese architecture and military tunnels and fortresses, intends to do everything it can to attract more foreign tourists, who account for less than 10 percent of its annual visitors, Lianjiang County Commissioner Yang Sui-sheng (楊綏生) said.
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