The government is considering the possibility of waiving a travel permit requirement for Chinese tourists arriving in Taiwan through a third nation, Minister of Transportation and Communications Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday.
Lin made the remark during an inspection of a railroad construction site in Taitung.
Cheng Yueh-tsai (鄭越才), chairman of Taitung-based Papago International Resort, last week said that China’s suspension of individual visits to Taiwan would cause half of the nation’s hotels and bed-and-breakfast operators to go out of business.
The suspension would certainly affect Taiwan’s tourism industry and a solution must be found, Lin said.
The ministry would provide subsidies to domestic travelers for fall and winter tours, he said, adding that it would also roll out a series of promotional campaigns to attract international tourists.
“[The suspension] serves as an opportunity to test the soundness of the nation’s hospitality industry, which has to learn to diversify risk. Through the efforts of the past few years, we have managed to lower the percentage of Chinese tourists to about 25 percent,” he said.
The ministry would propose to the Executive Yuan that the government study the possibility of giving tax breaks to hoteliers affected by China’s policy or helping them secure loans as short-term remedies, Lin said.
He also said that the government is considering the possibility of waiving the travel permit or visa requirements for Chinese tourists or those from Southeast Asian nations if they arrive in Taiwan from a third country.
The third countries could include Japan, South Korea and Singapore, as well as nations in Europe and North America, he said.
“These countries have set stricter standards to screen tourists. If the tourists have secured visas from these countries, we can relax the visa requirement a bit,” he said.
Lin had previously said that the nation is considering simplifying the visa application procedure or waiving the visa requirements for certain Southeast Asian countries.
In addition to relaxing visa requirements, some have said that the nation needs to more extensively promote its rich tourism resources.
“Most international visitors are only familiar with tourist attractions such as Taipei 101, but few know that there are other places worth visiting, such as Mr Brown Avenue in Chishan Township (池上) in Taitung,” Singapore Airlines Taiwan general manager Melvin Ng (黃文杰) said. “The focus is always on the main attractions, but there are other places that are equally nice.”
TYPHOON: The storm’s path indicates a high possibility of Krathon making landfall in Pingtung County, depending on when the storm turns north, the CWA said Typhoon Krathon is strengthening and is more likely to make landfall in Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said in a forecast released yesterday afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the CWA’s updated sea warning for Krathon showed that the storm was about 430km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point. It was moving in west-northwest at 9kph, with maximum sustained winds of 119kph and gusts of up to 155kph, CWA data showed. Krathon is expected to move further west before turning north tomorrow, CWA forecaster Wu Wan-hua (伍婉華) said. The CWA’s latest forecast and other countries’ projections of the storm’s path indicate a higher
SLOW-MOVING STORM: The typhoon has started moving north, but at a very slow pace, adding uncertainty to the extent of its impact on the nation Work and classes have been canceled across the nation today because of Typhoon Krathon, with residents in the south advised to brace for winds that could reach force 17 on the Beaufort scale as the Central Weather Administration (CWA) forecast that the storm would make landfall there. Force 17 wind with speeds of 56.1 to 61.2 meters per second, the highest number on the Beaufort scale, rarely occur and could cause serious damage. Krathon could be the second typhoon to land in southwestern Taiwan, following typhoon Elsie in 1996, CWA records showed. As of 8pm yesterday, the typhoon’s center was 180km
TYPHOON DAY: Taitung, Pingtung, Tainan, Chiayi, Hualien and Kaohsiung canceled work and classes today. The storm is to start moving north this afternoon The outer rim of Typhoon Krathon made landfall in Taitung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春半島) at about noon yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, adding that the eye of the storm was expected to hit land tomorrow. The CWA at 2:30pm yesterday issued a land alert for Krathon after issuing a sea alert on Sunday. It also expanded the scope of the sea alert to include waters north of Taiwan Strait, in addition to its south, from the Bashi Channel to the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島). As of 6pm yesterday, the typhoon’s center was 160km south of
STILL DANGEROUS: The typhoon was expected to weaken, but it would still maintain its structure, with high winds and heavy rain, the weather agency said One person had died amid heavy winds and rain brought by Typhoon Krathon, while 70 were injured and two people were unaccounted for, the Central Emergency Operation Center said yesterday, while work and classes have been canceled nationwide today for the second day. The Hualien County Fire Department said that a man in his 70s had fallen to his death at about 11am on Tuesday while trimming a tree at his home in Shoufeng Township (壽豐). Meanwhile, the Yunlin County Fire Department received a report of a person falling into the sea at about 1pm on Tuesday, but had to suspend search-and-rescue
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