The Tourism Bureau plans to launch a campaign to attract Muslim tourists with the target of luring 2,000 Muslims annually in the initial years, a newspaper reported yesterday.
The bureau held a seminar yesterday to introduce the untapped market of Muslim tourists to local travel agents and to discuss strategies that would help attract more Muslim tourists, the United Daily News said.
“There are millions of Muslims in the world who live in India, Malaysia, the Middle East and Arab countries. The potential is huge,” bureau official Liu Hsi-lin (劉喜臨) was quoted as saying.
PHOTO: CHANG CHIA-MING, TAIPEI TIMES
REPRESENTATIVES
He was joined by some 150 representatives from hotels, restaurants, recreational farms and the local Muslim community.
“Today’s seminar is just the start of a series of efforts that the Tourism Bureau will make to tap into the huge Muslim tourist market,” Liu said.
The report said Taiwan has designed three package-tour routes for Muslim tourists and will upgrade facilities at these tourist spots to meet the needs of Muslim visitors.
Taiwan has 60,000 native Muslims as well as 150,000 Muslim workers from Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines. There are six mosques around the nation.
Attracting Muslim tourists is part of plans to boost inbound tourism, which has been hurt by the global economic downturn.
Last year, the nation saw 3.84 million foreign visitors, falling short of its goal of 4 million.
HALAL
In addition to inviting international Muslim clerics and experts to carry out on-site inspections and plan special itineraries for Muslim tourists, the Chinese Moslem Association in Taiwan is also planning to launch a Halal certification system so that every Muslim visitor can rest assured that they are eating foods consistent with their faith in Taiwan.
Food companies are also being encouraged to produce and export Halal food products to Muslim countries, the report said.
VOTERS’ CHOICE: The DPP’s Chen and independent candidate Huang conceded defeat before 7:20pm, with Chiang pledging to remain humble and do his best Legislator Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) yesterday won the Taipei mayoral election, with the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) candidate defeating the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) pick, former minister of health and welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), and former Taipei deputy mayor Vivian Huang (黃珊珊), an independent. After polling stations closed at 4pm, the Taipei Election Commission issued a preliminary estimate that voter turnout in the city was about 64 percent, slightly lower than in 2018. Chiang, 43, is to be the youngest Taipei mayor ever, with the KMT regaining the capital after eight years. Chen had an exceptionally high national approval rating when he was head
FAMILY BACKGROUND: Chiang was effective in running a cautious campaign to avoid making mistakes, waiting for other candidates to slip up, an analyst said Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Taipei Mayor-elect Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) stood out among his rivals due to his energy, his die-hard supporters and his relative openness to discuss issues such as same-sex marriage, a political analyst said yesterday. Chiang’s campaign was also aided by his family’s background in politics, which helped him garner greater support in Taipei where there is a large KMT base, said the analyst, who chose to remain anonymous. “Chiang is also not a typical KMT member when it comes to certain issues, such as gay marriage, and his more open stance widened his support base — particularly among young
First-time politician Mai Yamada’s (山田摩衣) Japanese name has attracted attention in Chinese-language media after her win in the New Taipei City Council election on Saturday. Born to a Taiwanese mother and Japanese father, the 32-year-old Taiwanese-Japanese stood out after becoming one of nine elected city councilors in Banciao District (板橋) in the nation’s local government elections on Saturday. Although she has a Japanese name, she grew up and was educated in Taiwan, Yamada said, adding that “Taiwan is my home.” Before running for local government, Yamada, who speaks fluent Japanese and English, was Legislative Speaker You Si-kun’s (游錫堃) secretary. She has been involved in
Mask easing: Teachers are allowed to take their masks off while lecturing indoors, but students should keep theirs on, as COVID-19 measures ease this week The Ministry of Education (MOE) yesterday released new on-campus COVID-19 prevention guidelines, stating that masks can be taken off while exercising, singing, dancing, performing, taking photographs, dining, drinking, video and voice recording, hosting events, presenting speeches and lecturing outdoors. Large outdoor events organized by schools should comply with the mask regulations issued by the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC), it added. The new guidelines came into effect yesterday, and people in Taiwan are no longer required to wear masks outdoors for the first time since May 19 last year. The CECC announced the easing of the mask mandate on Monday, adding that it
RSS