Several New Taipei City residents have proposed putting the municipality’s popular tourist spots under the Northeast and Yilan Coast National Scenic Area’s management to improve tourism in the northeast coast, naming places such as Jinguashih (金瓜石), Shueinandong (水湳洞) and the Shenao Fishing Port (深澳漁港) in Rueifang District (瑞芳) as candidates for inclusion.
The call came days after the Executive Yuan put Keelung City’s Waimushan Fishing Harbor (外木山漁港), Cingren Lake (情人湖) and Heping Island (和平島) — off the city’s shore — under the jurisdiction of the North Coast and Guanyinshan National Scenic Area Administration.
The Executive Yuan’s move left Shenao Fishing Port, Yinyang Bay (陰陽海) near Shueinandong and the Jiufen Old Streets (九份老街) as the only tourist hotspots in the country not managed by national scenic area administrations.
Photo: Lin Hsin-han, Taipei Times
Residents said that popular sites such as Shuinandong, Jinguashih, Jiufen, Houtong (猴硐), the Shihfen Waterfalls (十分瀑布) and Pingsi (平溪) are at least city-level tourism spots and should be protected under the Act of Development of Tourism (觀光發展條例) because regulations are not being adequately enforced at all the locations.
As examples of lax oversight, New Taipei residents cited graffiti scrawled on the fishing port’s Siangbi Rock (象鼻岩) and the permanent damage cross-country enthusiasts have inflicted on mushroom-shaped rocks in the area that resemble the formations at the Yehliu Geopark (野柳公園), also in New Taipei City.
Years of publicity campaigns have been successful in generating tourism, further highlighting the area’s natural advantages in the sector, the New Taipeiers said, adding that if this last swath of northern coast is placed under the administration of a national scenic area, it would help the area carve out a niche in the market.
Northeast and Yilan Coast National Scenic Area administrative office director Fang Cheng-kuang (方正光) said that there are currently no plans to include the stretch of north coast from Shenao to Shuinandong in its jurisdiction.
“The Keelung City Government was the one that pushed for the inclusion of its tourist sites under national scenic area administration, and if the New Taipei City Government wants to do the same, it must apply to do so,” Fang said.
Once such a request is made, the sites would be surveyed and evaluated by the Tourism Bureau’s national scenic area evaluation division, Fang added.
However, Chen Ching-fang (陳靜芳), director of the New Taipei City Tourism and Travel Department’s tourism planning division, said that making the sites part of a scenic area should not be the only goal.
“What is more important is achieving a balance of funding and management,” she said.
As a special municipal government, New Taipei City’s administration is eligible for central government funding and is in a position to be practical about its plans to develop its tourism industry, Chen said.
She added that Rueifang is frequently included in the list of top 10 small cities to visit in Taiwan, while the Shuinandong, Jinguashih and Jiufen areas have been rated highly by international tourists for years.
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