Providing free water stations along its highways to encourage bicycle riders to bring their own water bottles is one of the strategies Taitung County has adopted to promote itself as a green tourism destination and a “cycling paradise.”
Since the beginning of this month, stations providing potable water have been set up every 10km on Taitung County’s two main north-south roads — provincial highways No. 9 and No. 11.
The idea is just one of many recommended by hotelier Stanley Yen (嚴長壽) to boost tourism in the relatively remote county.
Yen, president of Landis Hotels & Resorts, set up the Alliance Cultural Foundation to promote the cultural revitalization of Aboriginal areas along the east coast by serving as a bridge between the public and private sectors and integrating their resources.
No longer involved in the day-to-day operations of his company, Yen spends at least half his time in Taitung County searching for potential tourist spots and looking for problems that need to be solved.
Many of those being lured to the southeastern county are into cycling, said Wang Chi-shun, head of a local service station for travelers set up by Giant Manufacturing Co.
He said business has increased by between 10 percent and 20 percent this year, mostly foreigners, but he acknowledged that even Giant’s outlet was not enough.
“The lack of a place to get food, beverages or supplies is a big problem,” said Wang, who added that a rider could have trouble finding a convenience store or restaurant for stretches of 30km to 40km in the sparsely populated county.
Yen’s foundation therefore partnered with global brand 3M’s Taiwanese subsidiary to find a solution.
“Plastic bottles are major sources of pollution, so how do we keep them out of the place? We discussed ideas with the foundation and decided to set up water stations,” said George Chao (趙台生), general manager of 3M Taiwan.
The stations hope to create an incentive for travelers to bring their empty water containers and fill them up with water provided by the stations, rather than buying new bottles of drinking water.
An increasing number of tourists are also visiting Taitung during the winter for another outdoor activity that takes advantage of the cool seasonal winds from the northeast that used to keep tourists away.
Surfers travel to Taitung every year for the big waves caused by the winds, with some enthusiasts considering it the best surfing spot in East Asia, Yen said.
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