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.
Kenting National Park service technician Yang Jien-fon (楊政峰) won a silver award in World Grand Prix Photography Awards Spring Season for his photograph of two male rat snakes intertwined in combat. Yang’s colleagues at Kenting National Park said he is a master of nature photography who has been held back by his job in civil service. The awards accept entries in all four seasons across six categories: architectural and urban photography, black-and-white and fine art photography, commercial and fashion photography, documentary and people photography, nature and experimental photography, and mobile photography. Awards are ranked according to scores and divided into platinum, gold and
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