The Executive Yuan is planning to extend a domestic travel subsidy program launched earlier this year to the end of next month to boost travel and shopping during the Lunar New Year holiday, an official said yesterday.
The program, which aims to boost domestic travel in fall and winter, has been met with a positive response and would encourage more travel during the Lunar New Year holiday if extended for another month, an Executive Yuan official familiar with the matter said.
Under the program, launched by the Ministry of Transportation and Communications in September, travelers who are not on an organized tour would receive a subsidy of NT$1,000 (US$32.78) per room for staying at hotels that are part of the program.
Photo: Lee Hsin-fang, Taipei Times
In addition, travelers would receive four night market vouchers per room with a total value of NT$200 from the Ministry of Economic Affairs.
While the program was originally scheduled to finish at the end of this month, the government plans to extend it after hotels asked for the program to be prolonged, the official said.
As the Lunar New Year holiday is a popular time for travel, extending the program to cover that period would help boost the tourism industry, the official said, adding that the Executive Yuan has already held an interdepartmental meeting to discuss the matter.
The ministry has issued 585,000 night market vouchers, but only 60 percent of them have been used, the official said.
Of the government’s NT$100 million monthly budget earmarked for the vouchers, only about 60 percent has been used, the official said, adding that extending the expiration date of the vouchers and the subsidy program would likely encourage more travel and shopping.
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