To attract more young people from other countries for the "2006 Taiwan Youth Travel Year," the National Youth Commission is working with three schools to provide the "International Youth Travel Tour Buddy Service Net."
Working with the commission are Shih Hsin University, Chang Jung Christian University and the Taiwan Hospitality and Tourism College.
Five tours have been developed: a Taste of Northern Taiwan's History, a Voyage of Northern Taiwan's Culture, the Experience Southern Taiwan's Hospitality, the Eastern Taiwan Ocean and Bike Tour and the Eastern Taiwan Historic Japanese Architecture Tour.
Students majoring in tourism and foreign languages will provide information on the local services and attractions in their area through a Tour Buddy Service Center.
However, officials fear there aren't enough volunteers to help develop the youth travel market or meet the shortage of English-speaking tour guides.
Another option being developed by the Tourism Bureau is using young Australians and New Zealanders as part-time guides. Would-be guides would have to complete a course of study in their home countries and then receive three months of training after their arrival in this country. They would be paid NT$25,000 a month.
Tourism Bureau Deputy Director General Kuo Su Tsan-yang (郭蘇燦洋) said the young Australians and New Zealanders will have a good knowledge of Taiwan because most will have completed a course of 16 hours of classroom work and 400 hours of field work before arriving.
The government has signed Working Holiday Agreements with Australia and New Zealand to issue working holiday visas to one another's citizens aged between 18 and 30 to allow them to work for up to 12 months.
Kuo Su said that to be eligible for a working holiday visa, applicants must be a passport holder of one of the countries and be able to show that they have access to at least US$4,000 in bank savings.
However, the government is considering reducing the bank funds requirement in order to attract more Australians and New Zealanders to come to Taiwan and introduce Taiwan to other English-speakers.
Taiwan was listed in 14th place among the world's wealthiest country in terms of GDP per capita, in the latest rankings released on Monday by Forbes magazine. Taiwan's GDP per capita was US$76,860, which put it at No. 14 on the list of the World's 100 Richest Countries this year, one spot above Hong Kong with US$75,130. The magazine's list of the richest countries in the world is compiled based on GDP per capita data, as estimated by the IMF. However, for a more precise measure of a nation's wealth, the magazine also considers purchasing power parity, which is a metric used to
Renovations on the B3 concourse of Taipei Main Station are to begin on Nov. 1, with travelers advised to use entrances near the Taiwan Railway or high-speed rail platforms or information counter to access the MRT’s Red Line. Construction is to be completed before the end of next year, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp said last week. To reduce the impact on travelers, the NT$95 million (US$2.95 million) project is to be completed in four stages, it said. In the first stage, the hall leading to the Blue Line near the art exhibition area is to be closed from Nov. 1 to the end
Taipei’s Ximending (西門町) shopping area welcomed the most international visitors, followed by Taipei 101, Songshan Cultural and Creative Park and Yangmingshan National Park (陽明山國家公園), a list of the city’s most popular tourist attractions published by the Taipei Department of Information and Tourism showed. As of August, 69.22 million people had visited Taipei’s main tourism spots, a 76 percent increase from 39.33 million in the same period last year, department data showed. Ximending had 20.21 million visitors, followed by Taipei 101 at 8.09 million, Songshan Cultural and Creative Park at 6.28 million, Yangmingshan at 4.51 million and the Red House Theater (西門紅樓) in
Taiwan yesterday expelled four China Coast Guard vessels that entered Taiwan-controlled restricted waters off Lienchiang County (Matsu) shortly after the Chinese People’s Liberation Army announced the start of its “Joint Sword-2024B” drills around Taiwan. The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said in a statement that it had detected two China Coast Guard ships west of Nangan Island (南竿) and another two north of Dongyin Island (東引) at 8am yesterday. After Chinese ships sailed into restricted waters off Matsu shortly afterward, the CGA’s Kinmen-Matsu-Penghu Branch deployed four patrol vessels to shadow and approach the vessels, it said. The incidents pushed up to 44 the number
RSS