The government plans to allocate an additional NT$2 billion (US$67.49 million) in subsidies for a second phase of “disease prevention tours” — scheduled to start on Wednesday next week — given high demand, Minister of Transportation and Communications Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday.
Lin, who made the announcement on a trip to Taitung to promote domestic tourism, as Taiwan’s borders remain closed to international tourists, participated in a tour of the pineapple harvest in Luye Township (鹿野鄉) and learned how to make pineapple jam.
Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, many people this summer would be visiting local tourist attractions, instead of going abroad, Lin said.
Photo courtesy of the Tourism Bureau via CNA
The ministry had budgeted NT$3.9 billion for the second phase of disease prevention tours, Lin said, referring to subsidies of domestic tours from next month to October.
As the subsidies can be used for weekday and weekend tours, for independent travelers and tour groups, and tours to amusement parks, the original budget might not be enough to meet demand, spurring plans for an additional NT$2 billion in funding, which the Executive Yuan supports, Lin said.
The additional funding would be included in the budget earmarked for a third relief package to help travel agencies hosting inbound and outbound tourists, as well as businesses at international airports that are struggling to survive, the ministry said.
Domestic tourism subsidies have significantly increased hotel occupancy rates in central and southern Taiwan, as well as the outlying islands, but hotels in metropolitan areas this month had an average occupancy rate of about 20 percent, Lin said.
“We hope that we can offer relief funds to these hotels through the third bailout package. We also encourage hoteliers to be part of the ‘disease prevention tour’ packages. With the provision of Triple Stimulus Vouchers and government subsidies, they can change their business models and raise their occupancy rates. This would help sustain them over the next three months,” he said.
Lin said he hoped that the quality of domestic tours would be greatly enhanced with the promotion of the disease prevention tours, adding that the Tourism Bureau is working with travel agencies and tour operators to arrange quality tours.
The government has subsidized travel agencies to spend one month scouting out potential travel routes nationwide, which would then be introduced to the public, he said.
Tourism Bureau Deputy Director-General Chang Shi-chung (張錫聰) said that the bureau has submitted a plan for the additional tour subsidies to the Executive Yuan.
The Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics would evaluate and prioritize the various government agencies’ needs, he said, adding that the details have yet to be finalized.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique