The Taipei City Government should create more facilities to help boost the “rainbow economy,” the economic power driven by demand from the LGBT+ community, Taipei City Councilor Hsu Shu-hua (許淑華) said on Saturday.
Taiwan last year made headlines internationally for legalizing same-sex marriage, but the Taipei City Government has yet to realize the potential for increased tourism that the nation being the first in Asia to legalize same-sex marriage could bring, the Democratic Progressive Party member said.
Hsu said that her constituency, which includes Songshan (松山) and Xinyi (信義) districts, have many tourist attractions that could entice international visitors, so if the city government introduced same-sex elements to promote such areas, it would help attract more international visitors.
Photo: Ho Shih-chang, Taipei Times
The Taipei Public Works Department could paint the bridge near Rainbow Riverside Park (彩虹河濱公園) in Neihu District (內湖) in rainbow hues to create a unique landmark, Hsu said.
The Taipei Tourism Department should come up with a marketing plan within the month, Hsu said.
The Tourism Department said it had begun focusing on a same-sex theme last year, including designing a rainbow-colored logo, establishing rainbow-themed art in the Ximending (西門町) area and at the 228 Memorial Park.
It installed rainbow-colored lamplights and banners for this year’s Pride Parade, and is planning an art installation at the Taipei City Hall plaza by September.
The Public Works Department said the bridge near Rainbow Riverside Park was repainted in 2017 and its next repainting would be in seven to 10 years, but it would keep Hsu’s suggestions in mind when the time comes for the next paint job.
Death row inmate Huang Lin-kai (黃麟凱), who was convicted for the double murder of his former girlfriend and her mother, is to be executed at the Taipei Detention Center tonight, the Ministry of Justice announced. Huang, who was a military conscript at the time, was convicted for the rape and murder of his ex-girlfriend, surnamed Wang (王), and the murder of her mother, after breaking into their home on Oct. 1, 2013. Prosecutors cited anger over the breakup and a dispute about money as the motives behind the double homicide. This is the first time that Minister of Justice Cheng Ming-chien (鄭銘謙) has
Ferry operators are planning to provide a total of 1,429 journeys between Taiwan proper and its offshore islands to meet increased travel demand during the upcoming Lunar New Year holiday, the Maritime and Port Bureau said yesterday. The available number of ferry journeys on eight routes from Saturday next week to Feb. 2 is expected to meet a maximum transport capacity of 289,414 passengers, the bureau said in a news release. Meanwhile, a total of 396 journeys on the "small three links," which are direct ferries connecting Taiwan's Kinmen and Lienchiang counties with China's Fujian Province, are also being planned to accommodate
TRANSPORT CONVENIENCE: The new ticket gates would accept a variety of mobile payment methods, and buses would be installed with QR code readers for ease of use New ticketing gates for the Taipei metro system are expected to begin service in October, allowing users to swipe with cellphones and select credit cards partnered with Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC), the company said on Tuesday. TRTC said its gates in use are experiencing difficulty due to their age, as they were first installed in 2007. Maintenance is increasingly expensive and challenging as the manufacturing of components is halted or becoming harder to find, the company said. Currently, the gates only accept EasyCard, iPass and electronic icash tickets, or one-time-use tickets purchased at kiosks, the company said. Since 2023, the company said it
Minister of Justice Cheng Ming-chien (鄭銘謙) yesterday authorized the execution of convicted murderer Huang Lin-kai (黃麟凱), the first death row prisoner to be put to death since President William Lai (賴清德) took office. Huang was to be executed via a firing squad yesterday evening, which would leave Taiwan with 36 convicts on death row. Huang on Oct. 1, 2013, broke into his ex-girlfriend Wang Ping-chih’s (王品智) residence in New Taipei City, where he raped and murdered Wang. He also killed Wang’s mother. Huang was bitter over the breakup and her accusation that he had stolen NT$200,000 (US$6,074) from her bank account, prosecutors said
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