The Tourism Bureau is to soon propose lifting a ban on inbound and outbound tours as the nation seeks to resume normal life amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Minister of Transportation and Communications Wang Kwo-tsai (王國材) said yesterday.
Wang made the remarks after President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Sunday told the Democratic Progressive Party National Congress that her administration is seeking to revitalize the economy by carefully assessing the best time to reopen borders to international travelers.
Newly appointed head of the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) Victor Wang (王必勝) yesterday also said that the center’s main goals would include easing disease prevention measures and reopening borders.
Photo: CNA
Asked whether the border could be reopened next month, Wang said on the sidelines of a tourism forum that he has asked the Tourism Bureau to study how the ban on inbound and outbound tours imposed in March 2020 should be lifted and to submit a proposal.
“It is only a matter of time before the borders are reopened,” Wang said. “Our job is to make ourselves ready and we will respect the center’s assessment on the outbreaks in other nations caused by the Omicron subvariants BA.4 and BA.5 of SARS-CoV-2.”
The tourism industry “needs to be patient” as it can grow sustainably if borders are reopened when the virus is under control, he said.
The bureau has stipulated disease prevention guidelines for inbound and outbound tours, and organized educational sessions for tour guides, many of whom left the business during the pandemic, he added.
The domestic tourism subsidy program is a “warm-up exercise” for operators to prepare them to host overseas travelers, Wang said.
The Maritime and Port Bureau is studying whether cruise ship tours should recommence as well, he said.
“We welcome all international cruise ship operators to return to Taiwan,” he said, adding that the government has shored up port facilities to host cruise ship travelers.
Tourism Bureau Director-General Chang Shi-chung (張錫聰) said the bureau has yet to finalize the draft of a proposal for lifting the ban on outbound and inbound tours.
“We are dealing with two different markets here: The first is about Taiwanese tourists joining group tours to travel overseas, while the second involves issuing tourist visas to foreigners to travel to Taiwan,” Chang said. “We believe that both markets should be simultaneously reopened. We cannot reopen borders to allow international visitors to enter the nation, but prohibit our own citizens from traveling overseas.”
The bureau is to propose two options — allow international travelers to visit before allowing Taiwanese tourists to travel overseas, or lift the bans on both outbound and inbound tourists simultaneously, he said.
“We hope that outbound and inbound tours can be resumed at the same time, but we will respect the decision made by center if it thinks that inbound and outbound tours should be resumed separately,” he said.
The bureau is preparing to resume outbound and inbound tours, he added.
“The center is reviewing our proposed disease prevention guidelines for organizing inbound and outbound tours, and we have trained more than 10,000 tour guides and tour organizers to make sure that the market has an adequate supply of personnel,” Chang said.
The bureau plans to promote tours to Taiwan by hosting tourism exchange conferences with other nations, and inviting overseas media outlets and Internet celebrities to visit Taiwan, he said.
Additional reporting by Lee I-chia
RETHINK? The defense ministry and Navy Command Headquarters could take over the indigenous submarine project and change its production timeline, a source said Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday. Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns while expressing the hope that it would put a stop to political wrangling that only undermines the advancement of the nation’s defense capabilities. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that the admiral, her older brother, felt it was time for him to step down and that he had completed what he
Taiwan has experienced its most significant improvement in the QS World University Rankings by Subject, data provided on Sunday by international higher education analyst Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) showed. Compared with last year’s edition of the rankings, which measure academic excellence and influence, Taiwanese universities made great improvements in the H Index metric, which evaluates research productivity and its impact, with a notable 30 percent increase overall, QS said. Taiwanese universities also made notable progress in the Citations per Paper metric, which measures the impact of research, achieving a 13 percent increase. Taiwanese universities gained 10 percent in Academic Reputation, but declined 18 percent
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft
UNDER DISCUSSION: The combatant command would integrate fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups to defend waters closest to the coastline, a source said The military could establish a new combatant command as early as 2026, which would be tasked with defending Taiwan’s territorial waters 24 nautical miles (44.4km) from the nation’s coastline, a source familiar with the matter said yesterday. The new command, which would fall under the Naval Command Headquarters, would be led by a vice admiral and integrate existing fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups, along with the Naval Maritime Surveillance and Reconnaissance Command, said the source, who asked to remain anonymous. It could be launched by 2026, but details are being discussed and no final timetable has been announced, the source