Visitor numbers from countries targeted by the government’s “new southbound policy” showed double-digit growth since its introduction in September, boding well for the future of the tourism industry, which has been suffering from a decline in the number of Chinese tourists, the Office of Trade Negotiations said in a statement yesterday.
Figures for the January to October period showed 47.1 percent year-on-year growth in tourist arrivals from Thailand, 24.3 percent in the number from Vietnam and 18.8 percent from the Philippines, the office said.
Tourism Bureau statistics also showed that October visitor arrivals from South and Southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand grew 25.4 percent year-on-year to 166,931, the office said.
This growth came despite a decline in tourist numbers of 8.75 percent from other parts of the world and proves that the strategy is reaping rewards in the tourism sector, the office said, adding that the number of visitors from the south is expected to increase.
The new southbound policy was introcuded by the administration of President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) to foster relations with Taiwan’s southern neighbors.
So far, 15 of the 18 target countries included in the plan have reported year-on-year growth in the number of travelers to Taiwan in October, according to the Tourism Bureau data.
Cambodia reported the highest increase of 87.8 percent, followed by Vietnam with 73.7 percent, Thailand with 73.3 percent and Brunei with 68.3 percent, statistics showed.
The office said that since the policy was implemented in September, the government has taken several effective steps to boost tourism from the target countries, including granting conditional visa-free status granted to citizens of Thailand, Brunei, Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos.
In October, at a meeting of the Committee on Global Economic and Trade Strategies, Premier Lin Chuan (林全), hailed the policy as mutually beneficial for the countries involved.
He was quoted as saying that cooperation between the countries would create ties unlikely to be affected by political changes in target nations.
It would further facilitate the signing of bilateral investment protection agreements to better safeguard investments and economic activities of overseas Taiwanese businesses, he said.
With the implementation of the policy, Taiwan is seeking to make up for declining numbers of tourists from China and to establish less dependent bilateral relationships.
The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) yesterday said it had deployed patrol vessels to expel a China Coast Guard ship and a Chinese fishing boat near Pratas Island (Dongsha Island, 東沙群島) in the South China Sea. The China Coast Guard vessel was 28 nautical miles (52km) northeast of Pratas at 6:15am on Thursday, approaching the island’s restricted waters, which extend 24 nautical miles from its shoreline, the CGA’s Dongsha-Nansha Branch said in a statement. The Tainan, a 2,000-tonne cutter, was deployed by the CGA to shadow the Chinese ship, which left the area at 2:39pm on Friday, the statement said. At 6:31pm on Friday,
The Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy’s (PLAN) third aircraft carrier, the Fujian, would pose a steep challenge to Taiwan’s ability to defend itself against a full-scale invasion, a defense expert said yesterday. Institute of National Defense and Security Research analyst Chieh Chung (揭仲) made the comment hours after the PLAN confirmed the carrier recently passed through the Taiwan Strait to conduct “scientific research tests and training missions” in the South China Sea. China has two carriers in operation — the Liaoning and the Shandong — with the Fujian undergoing sea trials. Although the PLAN needs time to train the Fujian’s air wing and
Taiwanese celebrities Hank Chen (陳漢典) and Lulu Huang (黃路梓茵) announced yesterday that they are planning to marry. Huang announced and posted photos of their engagement to her social media pages yesterday morning, joking that the pair were not just doing marketing for a new show, but “really getting married.” “We’ve decided to spend all of our future happy and hilarious moments together,” she wrote. The announcement, which was later confirmed by the talent agency they share, appeared to come as a surprise even to those around them, with veteran TV host Jacky Wu (吳宗憲) saying he was “totally taken aback” by the news. Huang,
The American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) put Taiwan in danger, Ma Ying-jeou Foundation director Hsiao Hsu-tsen (蕭旭岑) said yesterday, hours after the de facto US embassy said that Beijing had misinterpreted World War II-era documents to isolate Taiwan. The AIT’s comments harmed the Republic of China’s (ROC) national interests and contradicted a part of the “six assurances” stipulating that the US would not change its official position on Taiwan’s sovereignty, Hsiao said. The “six assurances,” which were given by then-US president Ronald Reagan to Taiwan in 1982, say that Washington would not set a date for ending arm sales to Taiwan, consult
RSS