The increase in the number of tourists traveling between Taiwan and Japan last year shows that bilateral exchanges are growing ever stronger, an official from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday.
Speaking at the ministry's weekly press briefing, Peter Tsai (蔡明耀), deputy executive director of the ministry's Committee on Japanese Affairs, said that last year the number of people traveling between Taiwan and Japan reached 2.545 million -- 1.165 million going from Taiwan to Japan and 1.38 million traveling in the other direction.
Both numbers were up slightly on the 2006 totals, with an additional 5,000 Taiwanese and 170,000 Japanese tourists, he said. Tsai said the statistics, released by Taiwan's Tourism Bureau and Japan's National Tourist Organization, were dependable.
"Bilateral exchanges between the two countries are believed to be occurring even more frequently this year," Tsai said, as by the middle of this month there had been 13 civil and government groups visiting their counterparts.
Tsai said that among the 8.34 million visitors and the NT$1 trillion (US$31.6 billion) in tourism income Japan received last year, Taiwanese tourists contributed NT$300 billion.
"Taiwanese tourists are very generous and usually spend a lot because they enjoy the kindness of the Japanese people and appreciate Japanese-made products," he said.
The ministry has extended the visa-free period for Japanese tourists from 30 days to 90 days in the hope of attracting more Japanese to visit Taiwan, he said.
Taiwan and Japan are among each other's favorite travel destinations. Citizens of the two countries can travel without visas between the two and an accord was signed last August for the mutual recognition of Taiwanese and Japanese driver's licenses.
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
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
NINTH MONTH: There were 11,792 births in Taiwan last month and 15,563 deaths, or a mortality rate of 8.11 per 1,000 people, household registration data showed Taiwan’s population was 23,404,138 as of last month, down 2,470 from August, the ninth consecutive month this year that the nation has reported a drop, the Ministry of the Interior said on Wednesday. The population last month was 162 fewer than the same month last year, a decline of 0.44 per day, the ministry said, citing household registration data. Taiwan reported 11,792 births last month, or 3.7 births per day, up 149 from August, it said, adding that the monthly birthrate was 6.15 per 1,000 people. The jurisdictions with the highest birthrates were Yunlin County at 14.62 per 1,000 people, Penghu County (8.61
WARNING: Domestic coffee producers mainly grow arabica beans, as they self-pollinate, but they are more likely to have consistency issues, an expert said Taiwan ranks third in coffee consumption per capita in Asia, the latest Ministry of Agriculture data showed. Taiwanese consume 1.77kg, or 177 cups of coffee, per person each year, less only than Japan and South Korea, at 600 cups and 400 cups respectively, the ministry’s Tea and Beverage Research Station said. Although the nation mainly relies on imported coffee, there has been an increase in home-grown coffee bean production, the ministry said. Cuttings and other techniques are commonly used to ensure domestic beans have stronger floral and fruity flavors, it said. It is a fast-expanding market with Taiwan’s coffee consumption
RSS