The number of “factories” that promote history and culture through tourism in the nation has ballooned to 117 this year from 14 in 2008, according to the Industrial Technology Research Institute, which added that the number of “tourism factories” has grown sevenfold in as many years.
Factories focusing on alcoholic drinks and food top the list at 40, with King Car Group’s Kavalan Whiskey Factory in Yilan County and the Kuo Yan-ye Museum of Cake and Pastry in Taoyuan County being notable examples.
Factories focusing on commodities came in second at 28, such as the Hsing Lung Towel Factory in Yunlin County, Les Enphant’s museum in Taoyuan County and the Taiwan Metal Creative Museum in Greater Tainan.
Photo: Lai Hsiao-tung, Taipei Times
Nineteen factories specialize in healthcare, such as the Brand’s Health Museum in Changhua County, while 17 factories specialize in the humanities, such as Chang Lien-chang’s Saxophone Museum in Greater Taichung.
There are 13 factories focusing on oils, salt and rice, with Tatung’s Soy Sauce Brewing Museum and the Zhong Xin Rice Castle in Changhua being notable examples.
In terms of geographical location, Greater Tainan leads the list with 19 factories, New Taipei City is second with 16 and Taoyuan County is third with 12 factories.
Department of Innovative Industrial Clustering Director Tsai Hsiu-ju (蔡秀如) said on Monday that the latest tourism factory to be approved was the Homestretch Hydrogel Tourism Factory in Greater Tainan’s Rende District (仁德).
“The factory is the first in the nation to be based on hydrogel, and it has been established so that Taiwanese can better understand medical-grade hydrogel and its functions,” she said.
Tourism factories are miniature reflections of their respective industries, Tsai added.
The assessment of tourism factories is based on five main factors — the type of business, their size, tourism facilities, the level of service and management capabilities, the institute said.
In a drive to facilitate the transition from a manufacturing to a service-based economy, the Ministry of Economic Affairs has encouraged traditional factories to incorporate tourism.
Since 2003, 160 factories have applied for the ministry to assess and aid them in their transition, with 117 passing the assessment.
The rising popularity of tourism factories and number of factories willing to make the transition may be increasing due to there being more emphasis placed on leisure time, the institute said.
Tsai said that tourism factories have become common for weekend excursions and school tours, adding that the volume of tourists during the summer vacation has greatly increased.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it
Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost