The Cabinet yesterday announced measures to grow the number of cruise ship passengers to 1 million this year in a bid to make the industry a key driver of the nation’s tourism sector.
While it does not have a large population, Taiwan is the second-largest cruise ship market in Asia, with Keelung the fifth-busiest cruise ship port in the region, suggesting potential for the nation to become a regional hub for cruise liners, Minister of Transportation and Communications Hochen Tan (賀陳旦) said at a news conference at the Executive Yuan.
The Ministry of Transportation and Communications has set three major objectives to develop the cruise ship industry: increasing the number of cruise liners and passengers; making Penghu the first outlying area visited by cruise ships; and developing Keelung and Kaohsiung into home ports for cruise ships.
Despite a rapid decline in the number of Chinese tourists, the government plans to raise the number of cruise ship passengers from 750,000 last year to 1 million this year and the number of cruise liners transiting through the nation’s ports from 500 to 600, Hochen said.
The government is close to finalizing a deal with an international cruise line to make Penghu a regular destination for cruise ships, Hochen said, adding that would make it the third operator in Taiwan after Hong Kong-based Star Cruises and US-based Princess Cruises.
Infrastructure in Keelung and Kaohsiung is to be improved to make them home ports for cruise liners, he added.
“Turning Keelung and Kaohsiung into home ports for cruise ships will be key to integrating the industry with local development and the nation’s tourism policy, which is expected to create jobs and improve the economy,” Hochen said.
The local cruise ship industry last year generated NT$4 billion (US$128.61 million), the ministry said, estimating that it will grow to NT$5 billion this year.
Kaohsiung, one of the few ports in the world connected with an airport through a metro system, is ideal for the development of fly-cruise tourism, with cruise ship routes connecting it with Manila and Hong Kong, Hochen said, adding that Keeling is attempting to establish a route to Vietnam’s Ha Long Bay.
“Taiwan is strategically located between Northeast and Southeast Asia, with Keelung receiving more than 300 cruise liners annually,” Hochen said. “The nation must take advantage of its strategic location to establish a foothold in the Southeast Asian market.”
The ministry said it aims to attract a large number of foreign travelers through fly-cruise programs in a bid to balance the ratio of domestic to foreign cruise ship passengers from 8-2 to 1-1.
In a bid to attract visitors from Hong Kong and Macau, the fastest-growing demographic in the nation’s cruise ship industry, a specialized visa program has been launched to grant two entry permits per visitor to streamline the entry process at ports and airports, the ministry said, adding that the measure is expected to be extended to Chinese visitors.
The decline in the number of Chinese group visitors has abated, while the number of individual travelers rallied during the Lunar New Year holiday, Hochen said.
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