Vice President Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) yesterday reaffirmed the government’s commitment to developing the nation’s tourism industry, adding that it has promised to offer tourism operators its full support.
Chen, speaking at the Tourism Festival Ceremony in Taipei yesterday, said that the nation attracted 10.74 million international visitors last year.
Tourists numbers from 18 countries targeted by the New Southbound Policy grew by 30 percent to exceed 2 million last year, accounting for about 20 percent of international visitors, he said.
The result proves that the policy to draw tourists from Southeast Asian nations has worked, Chen said.
Last year’s increase in tourist numbers is only the beginning, Chen said, adding that tourism operators should offer a wider variety of customized tours after researching the nations targeted by the policy.
Chen said that he hopes that tourism operators can transform the industry, and develop ecological tours and other high-quality itineraries to attract more visitors.
Deputy Minister of Transportation and Communications Frank Fan (范植谷) thanked tourism operators for their efforts last year.
Apart from a 30 percent increase in visitor numbers from the nations targeted by the policy, there was also a 20 percent increase in South Korean visitors, as well as an 8 to 11 percent increase in visitor numbers from Europe and North America, Fan said.
The nation used to rely heavily on tourists from a single market, which impeded the development of the industry, Fan said.
People should not evaluate the soundness of the tourism market based on the performance in a single market, he said.
“That the nation still had 10 million international visitors last year shows that Taiwan is working toward a more stable and diversified tourism market,” he said.
Minister Without Portfolio Chang Ching-sen (張景森) encouraged tourism operators to continue to improve the quality of tours amidst the transformation of the industry.
“The government will support the development of the tourism industry with budget allocations and specific actions,” Chang said.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
A magnitude 4.1 earthquake struck eastern Taiwan's Hualien County at 2:23pm today, according to the Central Weather Administration (CWA). The epicenter of the temblor was 5.4 kilometers northeast of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 34.9 km, according to the CWA. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was the highest in Hualien County, where it measured 2 on Taiwan's 7-tier intensity scale. The quake also measured an intensity of 1 in Yilan county, Taichung, Nantou County, Changhua County and Yunlin County, the CWA said. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.
RSS