The number of tourists from the 18 nations targeted by the government’s New Southbound Policy in the first two months of this year increased 17.4 percent from a year earlier, with the number of Thai and Philippine visitors rising more than 30 percent, official data showed.
The policy aims to increase cultural and economic exchanges with the 10 ASEAN members (Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam), as well as Australia, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and New Zealand.
The number of travelers from the target nations totaled 388,986 during the period, up from 331,132 a year earlier, Executive Yuan Office of Trade Negotiations data showed.
Malaysians made up the majority of the visitors at 76,667, followed by 72,803 visitors from the Philippines, 64,148 from Vietnam and 55,993 from Thailand, the data showed.
The number of Thai visitors rose at the fastest rate, from 41,615 last year to 55,993 this year, or up 34.5 percent, while the number of Philippine visitors rose 31.3 percent, the data showed.
The number of Indian visitors rose from 5,135 last year to 6,170 this year and the number of New Zealand visitors grew from 2,483 last year to 2,855 this year, they showed.
The growth can be attributed to the government’s efforts to promote economic and talent exchanges through the policy, an official said yesterday on condition of anonymity.
Taiwan last year welcomed more than 11.07 million foreign visitors, including a record 2.59 million from the nations targeted by the policy, Tourism Bureau data showed.
The number of Chinese visitors last year fell to 2.69 million from 2.73 million in 2017, bureau data showed.
Visitors from the target countries last year made up 23.4 percent of total foreign visitors, up from 21.3 percent in 2017, the data showed.
The government aims to increase their share to 25 percent next year, which is likely to be achieved ahead of schedule, the official added.
Taiwan offers visa waiver programs to visitors from the target nations.
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