The government is to spend NT$6 billion (US$200.69 million) on incentives to attract more than 6 million international tourists to Taiwan this year, including offers of free high-speed rail tickets with plane ticket purchases, Minister of Transportation and Communications Wang Kwo-tsai (王國材) said.
The budget would be funded by surplus national tax revenue from last year, according to a draft “special statute to bolster economic and social resilience and sharing economic achievement with all people in the post-pandemic era,” he said on Saturday.
The discount programs include offering free high-speed rail tickets with purchases of plane tickets to Taiwan, vouchers for tourists to exchange for fresh fruit at convenience stores, half-day tours for transit passengers and a NT$500 electronic payment card — such as an EasyCard or iPass — for independent travelers, Wang said.
Photo: CNA
As many hotels are short of hotel housekeeping staff, part of the budget would be used to subsidize the salaries of housekeeping employees, he said.
The details would be announced later, Wang said, adding that the subsidies could be offered as soon as April, as long as the special statute and the proposed budget are passed.
The special statute also includes a proposed three-year NT$20 billion budget to subsidize a monthly public transportation pass, and a NT$2.5 billion budget for improving tourist shuttle routes, and adding high-speed rail stations and key railway stations to them, as well as improving sightseeing routes suggested by local governments, he said.
Photo: Fang Pin-chao,Taipei Times
To promote the nation, more than 200 international travel agents have been invited to the Taiwan Lantern Festival, Wang said.
They are also to visit many attractions across the nation, so that they can gain an understanding of Taiwan in the post-COVID-19 era and design tour packages appropriately, he said.
The Taiwan Lantern Festival was officially launched in Taipei yesterday, and runs through Feb. 19.
Photo: CNA
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