Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Legislator Ann Kao (高虹安) yesterday accused the Ministry of Transportation and Communications of wasting public funds after the ministry spent NT$90 million (US$3.2 million) in COVID-19 relief funds to make virtual reality (VR) travel videos to promote a “new model of tourism.”
The ministry, in collaboration with Taiwan AI Labs, earlier this year created the Taiwan Traveler Web site featuring interactive 360-degree videos of popular tourism events and destinations.
Aiming to provide an at-home travel experience for domestic and foreign tourists, the site launched with videos from the Dajia Matsu Pilgrimage (大甲媽祖遶境), Sun Moon Lake (日月潭) in Nantou County and Alishan (阿里山).
The project was paid for through the government’s special budget for COVID-19 relief; funds that should have been used for pandemic relief, Kao said in a video statement.
Instead they were used on an idea that fails to comprehend real trends, “serving only to waste people’s hard-earned money,” she said.
Kao said she understands that the ministry wants to promote digital tourism, but the essential purpose of tourism is to not only allow people to see the world, but to galvanize local economies and boost their prestige.
“When we spend so much on technology that does so little for physical tourism, is that not putting the cart before the horse?” she asked.
She also questioned the purpose of the videos, saying that trying to generate travel demand during a pandemic is not the best timing.
The incident is reminiscent of “Umaji,” another failed ministry project from last year, she said.
After spending NT$150 million on the app intended to integrate modes of transportation, the ministry quietly took it down, Kao said.
The Tourism Bureau’s YouTube channel has some quality videos, some of which have received hundreds of thousands of views, she said.
However, its more recent uploads, especially the 360-degree videos, have only garnered a few hundred views, she added, questioning the point of rehashing the same types of unpopular videos in the Taiwan Traveler project.
Kao said she has found that many government agencies suffer from this technology myth.
They pursue digitization through programs with massive budgets without clarifying actual needs or intentions, Kao said.
“Digital transformation” is not about sloganeering or spending money, she said, adding that failing to understand trends only results in money being wasted.
The ministry yesterday defended its “open platform for immersive films” as a leading global initiative designed to help the post-pandemic travel industry.
As tourism development during a pandemic requires forward-looking strategies, the ministry has adopted a number of strategies to help the industry weather the storm, it said.
People’s lifestyles and employment and consumption habits are rapidly moving online, it said, adding that traditional markets would not recover if they do not prepare in advance.
A number of local businesses are already planning to design tours using the site in preparation for the new tourism model, it said.
The ministry said it created the Taiwan Traveler platform to “set an example for the digital transformation of domestic tourism.”
Additional reporting by Chen Hsin-yu
The brilliant blue waters, thick foliage and bucolic atmosphere on this seemingly idyllic archipelago deep in the Pacific Ocean belie the key role it now plays in a titanic geopolitical struggle. Palau is again on the front line as China, and the US and its allies prepare their forces in an intensifying contest for control over the Asia-Pacific region. The democratic nation of just 17,000 people hosts US-controlled airstrips and soon-to-be-completed radar installations that the US military describes as “critical” to monitoring vast swathes of water and airspace. It is also a key piece of the second island chain, a string of
A magnitude 5.9 earthquake that struck about 33km off the coast of Hualien City was the "main shock" in a series of quakes in the area, with aftershocks expected over the next three days, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Prior to the magnitude 5.9 quake shaking most of Taiwan at 6:53pm yesterday, six other earthquakes stronger than a magnitude of 4, starting with a magnitude 5.5 quake at 6:09pm, occurred in the area. CWA Seismological Center Director Wu Chien-fu (吳健富) confirmed that the quakes were all part of the same series and that the magnitude 5.5 temblor was
Taiwan will now have four additional national holidays after the Legislative Yuan passed an amendment today, which also made Labor Day a national holiday for all sectors. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) used their majority in the Legislative Yuan to pass the amendment to the Act on Implementing Memorial Days and State Holidays (紀念日及節日實施辦法), which the parties jointly proposed, in its third and final reading today. The legislature passed the bill to amend the act, which is currently enforced administratively, raising it to the legal level. The new legislation recognizes Confucius’ birthday on Sept. 28, the
The Central Weather Administration has issued a heat alert for southeastern Taiwan, warning of temperatures as high as 36°C today, while alerting some coastal areas of strong winds later in the day. Kaohsiung’s Neimen District (內門) and Pingtung County’s Neipu Township (內埔) are under an orange heat alert, which warns of temperatures as high as 36°C for three consecutive days, the CWA said, citing southwest winds. The heat would also extend to Tainan’s Nansi (楠西) and Yujing (玉井) districts, as well as Pingtung’s Gaoshu (高樹), Yanpu (鹽埔) and Majia (瑪家) townships, it said, forecasting highs of up to 36°C in those areas
RSS