Singapore has shown an interest in forming a travel bubble with Taiwan, Minister of Transportation and Communications Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday, adding that the government is in talks with Vietnam and Japan about similar deals.
Lin attended a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee, which was scheduled to review the budget allocated for Tourism Development Funds and Freeway Construction Funds.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Hung Meng-kai (洪孟楷) asked Lin if the ministry has considered lifting the nation’s travel restrictions earlier than scheduled, given that Pfizer on Monday announced that it is making progress on a COVID-19 vaccine candidate.
Photo: George Tsorng, Taipei Times
Hung also asked if the nation’s plan to form a travel bubble with Palau was canceled because Palau questioned the nation’s testing of COVID-19 cases, and whether the nation could start travel bubbles with other countries, similar to those between New Zealand and Australia, and between Singapore and China.
Lin said that the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) would decide if Taiwan’s travel restrictions should be eased or lifted.
Palau is having a presidential election and is concerned that opening its borders would strain its disease prevention personnel and resources, he said.
Lin also told the committee that Singapore has been seeking a travel bubble deal with Taiwan and has contacted several government agencies, adding that he would soon meet with its local trade representative.
Taiwan is also in talks with Vietnam and Japan about forming travel bubbles with them, he said.
“We welcome similar proposals from other countries; we will tell them what we think are feasible solutions. However, any such travel agreement must first be approved by the CECC, which would determine whether an agreement can be enforced in ways that comply with the nation’s disease prevention policy,” he said.
As the government at the end of last month stopped granting subsidies for the second phase of “disease prevention tours,” Lin told reporters that the ministry plans to boost domestic tourism next month and in January with a winter travel subsidy plan, which it hopes would benefit travel agencies, tour guides, tourists and tour managers, and scenic areas.
“We will meet with officials in the six municipalities to see if they can offer more incentives to help keep the domestic tour market warm, or even heat it up a bit,” he said.
The bureau’s preliminary plan entitles tourists aged 55 or older traveling to Taipei, New Taipei City, Keelung, Taoyuan or Hsinchu to a travel subsidy of NT$1,500 (US$52.03) per room, which they would have to use between Feb. 8 and Feb. 13, before the Lunar New Year holiday next year.
People could present their ID numbers up to three times to apply for a subsidy, it added.
“Most domestic tourists traveled to destinations in central and southern Taiwan, as well as Hualien, Taitung and the outlying islands during the second phase of ‘disease prevention tours.’ We hope that we will help Taipei, New Taipei City, Keelung, Taoyuan and Hsinchu by breaking up the holiday traffic,” Lin said.
The government would also offer each domestic tour group a subsidy of NT$15,000 on condition that the tour lasts at least two days, and recruits self-employed tour guides and managers, he said.
The ministry has budgeted about NT$600 million for the initiative, which is expected to fund 36,000 tour groups.
To expand the scope of “pretend go abroad” tours, the Civil Aeronautics Administration has allowed civil aviation carriers to depart from Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport and land at other airports in the nation.
INCREASED CAPACITY: The flights on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays would leave Singapore in the morning and Taipei in the afternoon Singapore Airlines is adding four supplementary flights to Taipei per week until May to meet increased tourist and business travel demand, the carrier said on Friday. The addition would raise the number of weekly flights it operates to Taipei to 18, Singapore Airlines Taiwan general manager Timothy Ouyang (歐陽漢源) said. The airline has recorded a steady rise in tourist and business travel to and from Taipei, and aims to provide more flexible travel arrangements for passengers, said Ouyang, who assumed the post in July last year. From now until Saturday next week, four additional flights would depart from Singapore on Monday, Wednesday, Friday
The Ministry of National Defense yesterday reported the return of large-scale Chinese air force activities after their unexplained absence for more than two weeks, which had prompted speculation regarding Beijing’s motives. China usually sends fighter jets, drones and other military aircraft around the nation on a daily basis. Interruptions to such routine are generally caused by bad weather. The Ministry of National Defense said it had detected 26 Chinese military aircraft in the Taiwan Strait over the previous 24 hours. It last reported that many aircraft on Feb. 25, when it spotted 30 aircraft, saying Beijing was carrying out another “joint combat
Taiwan successfully defended its women’s 540 kilogram title and won its first-ever men’s 640 kg title at the 2026 World Indoor Tug of War Championships in Taipei yesterday. In the women’s event, Taiwan’s eight-person squad reached the final following a round-robin preliminary round and semifinals featuring teams from Ukraine, Japan, Thailand, Vietnam, the Basque Country and South Korea. In the finals, they swept the Basque team 2-0, giving the team composed mainly of National Taiwan Normal University students and graduates its second championship in a row, and its fourth in five years. Team captain
When Paraguayan opposition lawmaker Leidy Galeano returned from an all-expenses-paid tour of six Chinese cities late last year, she was convinced Paraguay risked missing out on major economic gains by sticking with longtime ally Taipei over Beijing — a message that participants on the trip heard repeatedly from Chinese officials. “Everything I saw there, I wanted for my country,” said Galeano, a member of the newly-formed Yo Creo party whose senior figures have spoken favorably about China. This trip and others like it — which people familiar with the visits said were at the invitation of the Chinese consulate in Sao Paulo
RSS