Starting next month, tourists heading to Penghu can each receive a voucher of NT$500 to spend on the outlying island, according to the Penghu County Government.
This is the second government initiative aiming to salvage the tourism industry of the nation’s most popular outlying island, with the number of tourists plummeting heavily after TransAsia Airways Flight GE222 crashed on Penghu in July killing 48 people.
The Tourism Bureau last week said it has budgeted NT$15 million (US$500,000) to subsidize tourists traveling to Penghu or to Greater Kaohsiung.
The fund is to be provided as an incentive for travel agencies to organize three-day tours to these destinations.
The tourism industry in Kaohsiung also suffered due to the gas pipeline explosions on July 31 and Aug. 1.
In the bureau’s scheme Penghu and Kaohsiung are also to each receive NT$7.5 million, with each tourist being subsidized NT$550 for tours there.
In addition, the bureau’s Penghu National Scenic Administration Director Chang Lung-cheng (張隆城) said another travel subsidy program was funded jointly by his agency, the Penghu County Government and TransAsia Airways, with each contributing NT$2.5 million.
Approximately 15,000 tourists are expected to benefit from the scheme, he said.
Chang said his agency had previously estimated that the number of tourists in the peak season could rise by 10 percent compared with the same time last year.
However, the number dropped by 20 percent, he said.
As the travel market has become more stable this month, Chang said his agency hoped to give a further boost to tourism through the issuance of vouchers.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Yang Yao (楊曜), who represents Penghu, said that locals do not think NT$500 is enough to save Penghu’s tourism industry.
Yang said the county originally hoped the annual Penghu Fireworks Festival could help bring back tourists.
The event was canceled because of the gas pipeline explosions in Kaohsiung, he said.
Yang added that the county had also planned to attract tourists with the launching a sky lantern festival, similar to that held annually in New Taipei City’s Pingsi (平溪).
However, the proposal was canceled because the government feared the sky lanterns would fall into the sea and create pollution, he said.
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