To attain the government’s goal of having 9 million tourists visit the nation this year, the Tourism Bureau said it is aiming to tap the tourism markets of Southeast Asia and the Middle East.
The number of visitors to hit the 8-million mark on the final day of last year, a feat that encouraged Premier Jiang Yi-huah (江宜樺) to set the bureau the further challenge of adding a million tourists to last year’s tally, the bureau said.
“It [attracting 9 million visitors] is going to take a lot of work, but the bureau will try its best,” bureau Deputy Director-General Wayne Liu (劉喜臨) said.
According to Liu, Taiwan has already drawn more than 1 million visitors from each of the following areas: China, Japan, Hong Kong and Macau, with Southeast Asian countries tipped to be the next region to hit that benchmark, he said.
The Southeast Asian nations that the bureau wants to target include Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam and the Philippines, Liu said, adding that it categorizes Singapore as being in the same market as Australia and New Zealand.
Vietnam’s booming economy has produced a new generation of Vietnamese who can afford to travel abroad, he said.
Liu said that the key to achieving the 9 million annual goal is streamlining visa application procedures for tourists from Southeast Asia. Currently, travelers from this region can apply for a tourist visa to Taiwan online if they hold valid visas for either the US, Canada, Japan, or the EU.
“Japan succeeded in attracting high-end tourists from Thailand by waiving visa requirements for Thais,” Liu said as an example.
Meanwhile, Emirates Airlines’ launch of direct flights from Taipei to Dubai this year is expected to boost the number of tourists from the Middle East, a market that the bureau has been working on developing for six years, the bureau deputy director-general said.
To this end, the bureau wants to create a Muslim-friendly environment, in particular by increasing the number of certified Halal or Halal-friendly restaurants, Liu added.
To solidify Taiwan’s hold in established tourism markets, the bureau is bidding to increase the volume of travelers from Hong Kong and Macau by promoting the nation as a “holiday getaway” destination and increasing the frequency of charter flights to Hualien and Taitung, Liu said.
In addition, given the growing number of flights to Shizuoka, Fukushima, Ishikawa and other cities in Japan, the bureau plans to enlarge its marketing budget for these cities, Liu said, adding that it is also looking to draw more cruise ship visitors.
FAST TRACK? Chinese spouses must renounce their Chinese citizenship and pledge allegiance to Taiwan to gain citizenship, some demonstrators said Opponents and supporters of a bill that would allow Chinese spouses to obtain Taiwanese citizenship in four years instead of six staged protests near the Legislative Yuan in Taipei yesterday morning. Those who oppose the bill proposed by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) demanded that Chinese spouses be granted citizenship only after renouncing their Chinese citizenship, passing a citizenship test and pledging allegiance to Taiwan. The demonstrators, who were protesting at a side entrance to the Legislative Yuan on Jinan Road, were mostly members of the Taiwan Association of University Professors and other organizations advocating Taiwanese independence. Supporters of the bill, led
SILENT MAJORITY: Only 1 percent of Chinese rejected all options but war to annex Taiwan, while one-third viewed war as unacceptable, a university study showed Many Chinese are more concerned with developments inside their country than with seeking unification with Taiwan, al-Jazeera reported on Friday. Although China claims Taiwan as its own territory and has vowed to annex it, by force if necessary, 23-year-old Chinese Shao Hongtian was quoted by al-Jazeera as saying that “hostilities are not the way to bring China and Taiwan together.” “I want unification to happen peacefully,” Shao said. Al-Jazeera said it changed Shao’s name to respect his wish for anonymity. If peaceful unification is not possible, Shao said he would prefer “things to remain as they are,” adding that many of his friends feel
Taiwan has “absolute air superiority” over China in its own airspace, Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) told a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee on Monday, amid concern over whether Taipei could defend itself against a military incursion by Beijing. Po made the remarks in response to a question from Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Chiu Chih-wei (邱志偉) on whether Taiwan would have partial or complete air superiority if Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) warplanes were to enter Taiwan’s airspace. Po, a retired pilot, said that the Taiwanese military has “absolute air superiority” over PLA
A shipment of basil pesto imported by Costco Wholesale Taiwan from the US in the middle of last month was intercepted at the border after testing positive for excessive pesticide residue, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday. Samples taken from a shipment of the Kirkland Signature brand of basil pesto imported by Costco contained 0.1 milligrams per kilogram of ethylene oxide, exceeding the non-detectable limit. Ethylene oxide is a carcinogenic substance that can be used as a pesticide. The 674kg shipment of basil pesto would either be destroyed or returned to its country of origin, as is the procedure for all