The Tourism Bureau yesterday rolled out new incentives to attract tourists from nations targeted by the government’s “new southbound policy,” after the Ministry of Foreign Affairs further relaxed visa requirements for people from some Asia and Southeast Asia nations.
Bureau of Consular Affairs Director Deneral Agnes Chen (陳華玉) said that since August last year the ministry has waived visas for Thais and Bruneians.
Although the program is a trial, Chen said that it has already contributed to significant growth in visitor numbers from both countries.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
The ministry has extended the visa-waiver program for both for another year, Chen said, adding that the program is to expire on July 31 next year.
Chen said that the Philippines is to be included in the program this year, for one year.
Indian, Vietnamese, Indonesian, Burmese, Cambodian and Laotian tourists can apply for a Taiwan travel authorization certificate online, Chen said.
Such requirements are to apply to visitors from Southeast Asian countries who have been granted visas (work visa excluded) in the past 10 years and did not overstay their visas, she said.
Sri Lankans and Bhutanese can also apply for tourist visas as the ministry relaxed the screening procedures for travelers from those countries, Chen added.
Indian, Vietnamese, Indonesian, Burmese, Cambodian and Laotian business travelers can apply for electronic visas if they have recommendations from the Taiwan External Trade Development Council office in their country, she said.
The ministry said the Philippines has been included the visa-waiver program after consultation with government agencies in charge of immigration, trade, national security and others found that the number of Filipinos who have overstayed their visa are “within a controllable range.”
Tourism Bureau Director-General Chou Yung-hui (周永暉) said that the bureau considers the Philippines a strong potential tourism market.
The Philippines is geographically close and travelers can reach Taiwan within five hours, he said.
He said that the visa-waiver program would likely help increase the number of Filipino tourists by 33 percent to about 230,000 people.
The bureau also introduced the incentives to attract other international visitors, it said.
International tourists who come with tour groups could receive between NT$20,000 and NT$150,000 in subsidies if they spend three days in Taiwan and visit artistic and historic sites.
Each person could receive a subsidy of between NT$400 and NT$800 for tour groups that spend more than four days in Taiwan.
Tourists of incentive tour groups from Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, Brunei, Indonesia, Vietnam, Lao, Myanmar, Cambodia, India, Bhutan, Australia and New Zealand can each receive NT$400 on the first or second day of the four-day tour in Taiwan if the group has more than 50 people, the tour said. In addition, their tour groups would receive NT$80,000 to NT$120,000 in additional subsidy if they also watch local art performances subsidized by the Ministry of Culture or historic and cultural sites recommended by the local governments, depending on the size of their tour groups.
“We estimate that the incentive will generate more than NT$800 million (US$26.18 million) in revenue,” Chou said.
Johanne Liou (劉喬安), a Taiwanese woman who shot to unwanted fame during the Sunflower movement protests in 2014, was arrested in Boston last month amid US President Donald Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigrants, the Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) said yesterday. The arrest of Liou was first made public on the official Web site of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on Tuesday. ICE said Liou was apprehended for overstaying her visa. The Boston Field Office’s Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) had arrested Liou, a “fugitive, criminal alien wanted for embezzlement, fraud and drug crimes in Taiwan,” ICE said. Liou was taken into custody
ON PAROLE: The 73-year-old suspect has a criminal record of rape committed when he was serving in the military, as well as robbery and theft, police said The Kaohsiung District Court yesterday approved the detention of a 73-year-old man for allegedly murdering three women. The suspect, surnamed Chang (張), was arrested on Wednesday evening in connection with the death of a 71-year-old woman surnamed Chao (趙). The Kaohsiung City Police Department yesterday also unveiled the identities of two other possible victims in the serial killing case, a 75-year-old woman surnamed Huang (黃), the suspect’s sister-in-law, and a 75-year-old woman surnamed Chang (張), who is not related to the suspect. The case came to light when Chao disappeared after taking the suspect back to his residence on Sunday. Police, upon reviewing CCTV
TAIWAN ADVOCATES: The resolution, which called for the recognition of Taiwan as a country and normalized relations, was supported by 22 Republican representatives Two US representatives on Thursday reintroduced a resolution calling for the US to end its “one China” policy, resume formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan and negotiate a bilateral Taiwan-US free trade agreement. Republican US representatives Tom Tiffany of Wisconsin’s 7th Congressional District and Scott Perry of Pennsylvania’s 10th District were backed by 22 Republican members of the US House of Representatives. The two congressmen first introduced the resolution together in 2021. The resolution called on US President Donald Trump to “abandon the antiquated ‘one China’ policy in favor of a policy that recognizes the objective reality that Taiwan is an independent country, not
The US-Japan joint statement released on Friday not mentioning the “one China” policy might be a sign that US President Donald Trump intends to decouple US-China relations from Taiwan, a Taiwanese academic said. Following Trump’s meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba on Friday, the US and Japan issued a joint statement where they reaffirmed the importance of peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait and support for Taiwan’s meaningful participation in international organizations. Trump has not personally brought up the “one China” policy in more than a year, National Taiwan University Department of Political Science Associate Professor Chen Shih-min (陳世民)
RSS