Foreign tourist arrivals have risen 40 percent since Taiwan removed border controls in October last year, led by travelers from South Korea, Japan and Southeast Asia, travel e-commerce platform KKday said yesterday.
South Koreans topped the ranking of inbound tourists, followed by travelers from Japan, Hong Kong, Macau, Singapore and Malaysia, KKday said.
The findings were in line with Taiwan’s bid to attract 6 million foreign tourists this year and return to pre-COVID-19-pandemic levels next year.
Photo: CNA
As of Sunday, 1.85 million tourists had arrived in Taiwan this year, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications told a legislative hearing yesterday.
That number might reach 2 million by the end of this month after Taiwan downgraded COVID-19 and made travel into the country easier, it added.
The ministry has offered NT$5,000 worth of travel subsidies for 500,000 free independent tours and 90,000 group tours to attract foreign visitors, it said.
It was closely monitoring the target and would introduce more stimulus measures, if necessary.
The bulk of foreign tourists, 70 percent, visited Taipei and New Taipei City, followed by Taichung, Kaohsiung and Tainan, KKday said.
The destination survey showed that the Taipei 101 Observatory and the National Palace Museum were the top two tourist attractions, followed by New Taipei City’s Jioufen Township (九份), Hualien County’s Taroko Gorge (太魯閣) and the Alishan National Forest Recreation Area (阿里山國家森林遊樂區) in Chiayi County, it said.
Nantou County’s mountainous areas and beaches in Pingtung County’s Kenting National Park (墾丁國家公園) also ranked high.
Inbound tourists’ travel focus differs based on nationality, with South Koreans seeking out Taiwanese cuisine, while Japanese travelers consider Jioufen a must-visit destination, KKday said.
Tourists from Hong Kong and Macau like to travel as much as possible during their visits, but those from Singapore top the list for spending, it said.
Transportation is among the most in-demand services among foreign tourists, as they need high-speed rail tickets, car rentals and one-day or multiday tours to reach New Taipei City’s coastal areas, Nantou County’s Cingjing Farm (清境農場), Taroko Gorge or Alishan, KKday said.
Unique experiences, hot springs, lighting sky lanterns and do-it-yourself bakery activities also rank high on the itinerary of foreign tourists, it said.
ISSUES: Gogoro has been struggling with ballooning losses and was recently embroiled in alleged subsidy fraud, using Chinese-made components instead of locally made parts Gogoro Inc (睿能創意), the nation’s biggest electric scooter maker, yesterday said that its chairman and CEO Horace Luke (陸學森) has resigned amid chronic losses and probes into the company’s alleged involvement in subsidy fraud. The board of directors nominated Reuntex Group (潤泰集團) general counsel Tamon Tseng (曾夢達) as the company’s new chairman, Gogoro said in a statement. Ruentex is Gogoro’s biggest stakeholder. Gogoro Taiwan general manager Henry Chiang (姜家煒) is to serve as acting CEO during the interim period, the statement said. Luke’s departure came as a bombshell yesterday. As a company founder, he has played a key role in pushing for the
China has claimed a breakthrough in developing homegrown chipmaking equipment, an important step in overcoming US sanctions designed to thwart Beijing’s semiconductor goals. State-linked organizations are advised to use a new laser-based immersion lithography machine with a resolution of 65 nanometers or better, the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) said in an announcement this month. Although the note does not specify the supplier, the spec marks a significant step up from the previous most advanced indigenous equipment — developed by Shanghai Micro Electronics Equipment Group Co (SMEE, 上海微電子) — which stood at about 90 nanometers. MIIT’s claimed advances last
CROSS-STRAIT TENSIONS: The US company could switch orders from TSMC to alternative suppliers, but that would lower chip quality, CEO Jensen Huang said Nvidia Corp CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳), whose products have become the hottest commodity in the technology world, on Wednesday said that the scramble for a limited amount of supply has frustrated some customers and raised tensions. “The demand on it is so great, and everyone wants to be first and everyone wants to be most,” he told the audience at a Goldman Sachs Group Inc technology conference in San Francisco. “We probably have more emotional customers today. Deservedly so. It’s tense. We’re trying to do the best we can.” Huang’s company is experiencing strong demand for its latest generation of chips, called
GLOBAL ECONOMY: Policymakers have a choice of a small 25 basis-point cut or a bold cut of 50 basis points, which would help the labor market, but might reignite inflation The US Federal Reserve is gearing up to announce its first interest rate cut in more than four years on Wednesday, with policymakers expected to debate how big a move to make less than two months before the US presidential election. Senior officials at the US central bank including Fed Chairman Jerome Powell have in recent weeks indicated that a rate cut is coming this month, as inflation eases toward the bank’s long-term target of two percent, and the labor market continues to cool. The Fed, which has a dual mandate from the US Congress to act independently to ensure