The nation welcomed its 4 millionth overseas visitor of the year on Saturday, a Japanese tourist who received a debit card with NT$400,000 in credit, along with gifts from the Tourism Bureau.
Suzuyo Goto, 62, arrived in Taiwan with some friends on Saturday afternoon and was scheduled to embark on a six-day trip around the nation that includes visits to Sun Moon Lake and other scenic spots in Tainan, Taichung, Kaohsiung and Taipei.
The bureau said that approximately 3.94 million tourists had arrived from overseas by last month, registering 12 percent growth compared with the same period last year.
Tourism Bureau Deputy
Director-General David Hsieh (謝謂君) said the bureau estimated that the number of overseas tourists would hit the 4.2-million mark by the end of this year, adding that the bureau has set a goal of attracting 4.5 million overseas tourists to Taiwan next year.
Statistics from the bureau showed that as of October, Japan was ranked first for the number of tourists that had visited Taiwan this year. China was ranked second, followed by Hong Kong and Macau, the US and South Korea.
Hsieh said between January and October, the number of Japanese tourists fell by about 8 percent compared with the same period last year. Many other Southeastern Asian nations had also seen a decrease in the number of Japanese tourists visiting. He said the number of Japanese tourists visiting Singapore had fallen by about 14 percent and Thailand had seen a 22.31 percent decrease in the number of Japanese tourists.
In contrast, the number of Chinese tourists visiting Taiwan grew by 195.3 percent when compared with the same period last year.
The National Immigration Agency (NIA) said yesterday that it will revoke the dependent-based residence permit of a Chinese social media influencer who reportedly “openly advocated for [China’s] unification through military force” with Taiwan. The Chinese national, identified by her surname Liu (劉), will have her residence permit revoked in accordance with Article 14 of the “Measures for the permission of family- based residence, long-term residence and settlement of people from the Mainland Area in the Taiwan Area,” the NIA said in a news release. The agency explained it received reports that Liu made “unifying Taiwan through military force” statements on her online
A magnitude 5.7 earthquake struck off Taitung County at 1:09pm today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The hypocenter was 53km northeast of Taitung County Hall at a depth of 12.5km, CWA data showed. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Taitung County and Hualien County on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. The quake had an intensity of 3 in Nantou County, Chiayi County, Yunlin County, Kaohsiung and Tainan, the data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage following the quake.
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) is to begin his one-year alternative military service tomorrow amid ongoing legal issues, the Ministry of the Interior said yesterday. Wang, who last month was released on bail of NT$150,000 (US$4,561) as he faces charges of allegedly attempting to evade military service and forging documents, has been ordered to report to Taipei Railway Station at 9am tomorrow, the Alternative Military Service Training and Management Center said. The 33-year-old would join about 1,300 other conscripts in the 263rd cohort of general alternative service for training at the Chenggong Ling camp in Taichung, a center official told reporters. Wang would first
MINOR DISRUPTION: The outage affected check-in and security screening, while passport control was done manually and runway operations continued unaffected The main departure hall and other parts of Terminal 2 at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport lost power on Tuesday, causing confusion among passengers before electricity was fully restored more than an hour later. The outage, the cause of which is still being investigated, began at about midday and affected parts of Terminal 2, including the check-in gates, the security screening area and some duty-free shops. Parts of the terminal immediately activated backup power sources, while others remained dark until power was restored in some of the affected areas starting at 12:23pm. Power was fully restored at 1:13pm. Taoyuan International Airport Corp said in a
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