The number of visits by foreign nationals last year totaled a record 2.73 million, according to Ministry of Transportation and Communications statistics released yesterday.
The figure represented an increase of 110,000 visits, or 4.2 percent, over the previous year, ministry officials said.
According to the ministry, the number of visits for business was 820,000, accounting for 30 percent of total visits last year, or a decrease of 1.9 percent from the previous year. The number of visits for tourism purposes was 1.02 million, or 37.4 percent of the total, and represented an increase of 2.7 percent over the previous year's level and the fourth consecutive year of growth.
Japanese nationals made a total of 990,000 visits, up 1.5 percent over the previous year, Hong Kong people made 440,000 visits, up 10.8 percent, while Americans made 350,000 visits, up 4.3 percent.
Meanwhile, Taiwanese made a total of 7.51 million visits overseas last year, averaging 20,000 visits per day, also setting a record. The figure represented an increase of 4.4 percent over that of the previous year, indicating that the shadow cast over the tourism industry by the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks has gradually been retreating.
In the domestic tourism market, after the implementation of the five-day workweek for government employees and the promotion of domestic tourism, the number of visits to major scenic spots increased sharply to 128.7 million last year.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it
COLD FACTS: ‘Snow skin’ mooncakes, made with a glutinous rice skin and kept at a low temperature, have relatively few calories compared with other mooncakes Traditional mooncakes are a typical treat for many Taiwanese in the lead-up to the Mid-Autumn Festival, but a Taipei-based dietitian has urged people not to eat more than one per day and not to have them every day due to their high fat and calorie content. As mooncakes contain a lot of oil and sugar, they can have negative health effects on older people and those with diabetes, said Lai Yu-han (賴俞含), a dietitian at Taipei Hospital of the Ministry of Health and Welfare. “The maximum you can have is one mooncake a day, and do not eat them every day,” Lai
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