Taipei has been picked by Fox News’ Web site as one of the top 10 budget travel destinations for next year, thanks to its emerging culinary scene, upscale new construction and lush hot springs.
Fox News said that although many Web sites have put together “best travel” lists for the coming year, few do so with such a keen eye toward savings as it does.
“Our editors comb through piles of data, news, currency charts, and industry trends to find our nominees for the world’s new best-value destinations — then passionately debate which of the candidates will make the final list,” the report said.
Photo: CNA
It said that this year’s winners have far more going for them than mere markdowns, with some being perennial, family-friendly favorites and some being overlooked underdogs ready for their turn in the global spotlight.
Explaining why Taipei has been included on the list, which does not give specific rankings, the report cited the opening of Taiwan to independent Chinese tourists in June.
The arrival of these “free independent travelers” marked a turning point for Taiwan, which could be a sign that a long-lived cross--Taiwan Strait political stalemate might finally be thawing, the report said.
“It also brought an influx of tourism revenue and a renewed interest in the Pacific island’s assets,” the report said.
As Taiwan’s political and commercial nerve center, Taipei has “an emerging culinary scene [world--famous chef Joel Robuchon opened a Taipei restaurant in November 2009] and plenty of snazzy new construction, while the surrounding countryside offers hot springs, majestic mountains and golden-sand beaches,” it said.
To cater to new visitors, the report went on, the Taiwanese government launched a new tourist bus travel service running cheap day trips to attractions, such as Sun Moon Lake, which include a cable-car ride, a boat tour and electric scooter rentals.
The report added that while a recent bump in the number of US visitors to Asia has caused hotel prices elsewhere to jump 4 percent — like in South Korea, Malaysia, Hong Kong and Singapore — Taipei’s rooms are 11 percent cheaper than they were last year, at an average rate of US$144 per night.
The report cites October and November as the most pleasant months to visit, with less than 100mm of rainfall and average high temperatures of about 24°C.
Other venues on the list are: Portugal’s Azores islands; Egypt; San Diego, California; Canada’s Maritime provinces; Belize; San Antonio, Texas; Poland; Kansas City, Missouri; and Athens, Greece.
REASONS FOR TRAVEL: An assistant professor said that proposed amendments to penalize drivers if they used drugs overseas would not deter people from traveling People who operate a motor vehicle under the influence of marijuana would have their driver’s license revoked, even if they used the substance while overseas, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday, citing proposed amendments to the Road Traffic Management and Penalty Act (道路交通管理處罰條例). The amendments would also authorize the government to revoke the licenses of people determined to have used Category 1 or Category 2 narcotics, even if they were not operating a vehicle while under the influence of drugs, as well as ban them from taking the license test for three years, the ministry said. People aged 18 or
GLOBALGIVING: ‘ Caving to external pressure is not acceptable for an organization that has cultivated justice reform and human rights for 30 years,’ one NGO said A slew of non-government organizations (NGOs) have withdrawn from the GlobalGiving fundraising platform after it announced it would use “Chinese Taipei” instead of “Taiwan” from next month. The Taiwan Good Rice Association wrote on Facebook on Friday that it was informed on April 28 via a teleconference call of the change, which was made because the platform wanted to operate in China. Taiwan Good Rice is to terminate all cooperative relationships with GlobalGiving in response to the platform’s “unilateral and non-negotiable” decision to remove references to Taiwan, the NGO said. “Taiwan is in the official name of Taiwan Good Rice Association and the
HEAVY WEATHER: Typhoon Jangmi is due to crash straight into the Ryukyus as airlines look to shift flights to larger aircraft or cancel flights to Okinawa entirely Taiwan’s international air carriers announced flight adjustments over the weekend as Typhoon Jangmi is forecast to hit the Ryukyu Islands today and tomorrow. The Central Weather Administration (CWA) upgraded Jangmi from a tropical storm to a typhoon at 8am yesterday, with the eye located 580km south of Naha city. It was moving north at 19kph. Today, China Airlines’ CI-120, CI-121, CI-122 and CI-123 flights between Taoyuan and Naha, Okinawa, have been canceled as well as CI-132 and CI-133 between Kaohsiung and Naha. EVA Air’s BR-112, BR-113, BR-186 and BR-185 flights between Taoyuan and Naha are also canceled. Low-cost carrier Tigerair Taiwan canceled IT-230,
MULTIPRONGED APPROACH: China has sought to pressure Palau across a number of fronts, but the island nation has staunchly resisted overtures to ditch Taiwan Palau has been firm in backing Taiwan despite Chinese pressure that uses tourism economics, cyberattacks and criminal infiltration as tools to threaten the Pacific ally into renouncing its recognition of Taiwan as a sovereign state. The Presidential Office yesterday announced that Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) would visit Palau from Saturday to Wednesday next week at the invitation of Palauan President Surangel Whipps Jr. Whipps in April said in an interview that China had outspokenly asked Palau to “denounce Taiwan.” “And we have said: ‘We have no enemies, but nobody tells us who our friends are,’” he said. Whipps has told reporters multiple times
RSS