Foreign tourists should pay extra to enter Taipei historic sites and other tourist attractions, Taipei City Councilor Chen Chien-ming (陳建銘) of the Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) said yesterday.
“Responsibility for maintaining historic sites should be shared, rather than requiring city residents to pay [via taxes], while allowing tourists to enjoy the sites for free,” Chen said, adding that many nationally managed sites, such as the National Palace Museum, were increasing ticket prices amid a tourist influx from China.
The city government’s Department of Cultural Affairs charges entry fees for 11 of the 37 historic sites that it manages, according to department statistics.
Foreign visitors pay extra only for entry to the Shilin Presidential Residence, a former home of Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) that has attracted a significant number of Chinese visitors since the main building was opened to the public in 2011.
Entrance fees should be adjusted to allow Taipei residents free entry into all city-managed historic sites, at the same time charging fees to any foreign visitors, Chen said.
Foreigners holding valid residency permits should also be allowed free entrance, since they also pay taxes, he added.
Chen said a flood of foreign tourists had complicated the management of historic sites, citing as an example the garden at the Shilin Presidential Residence. While fees are charged for entry into the mansion itself, entering the surrounding garden is free, making it a popular stop for Chinese tourists visiting the nearby National Palace Museum or Shilin Night Market, Chen said.
Chinese tourists “wantonly damage” the grass, flowers and trees of the garden, spoiling the environment and adding to upkeep costs, he said.
Charging foreign visitors for park entry would both reduce pressure on the environment and allow more investment in site maintenance, he added.
Ho Chi-hua (賀琦華), director of the horticultural management center (園藝管理所) of the city’s Parks and Street Lights Office, said that about 80 percent of garden’s estimated 1.7 million annual visitors were foreigners.
The city is considering requiring ticketing for entrance to the garden to recoup the NT$20 million (US$644,000) it spends annually on garden upkeep, she said, adding that details would not be determined until July.
Lee Weidy (李威蒂) — the Department of Cultural Affairs’ division chief for cultural resource management — said that apart from the Shilin Presidential Residence, Beitou District’s (北投) Hot Springs Museum and Ximending’s (西門町) Red House (紅樓) were the other city-managed historic sites attracting substantial numbers of foreign visitors.
Neither site charges entrance fees to encourage city residents and foreign visitors to learn more about city history, she said.
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