Lithuania is looking forward to helping local tourism and travel firms create charter-flight tour packages to Taiwan, Dalius Morkvenas, Lithuania’s head of tourism, told a travel symposium in Taipei on Monday.
Morkvenas, who was speaking via video link with Tourism Bureau Deputy Director-General Trust Lin (林信任) on a Taiwan-Lithuania travel panel at the Taipei International Travel Fair (ITF), said that with the world slowly returning to normal from the COVID-19 pandemic, Lithuania anticipates deepening ties with Taiwan.
First would be the establishment of Lithuania’s representative office in Taiwan, and then Lithuanian tourism, said Morkvenas, a guest of honor at the travel fair.
Photo: Chen Hsin-yu, Taipei Times
Morkvenas serves as managing director of Lithuania Travel, the Baltic nation’s agency responsible for tourism marketing and promotion, following the liquidation of Lithuania’s tourism department in 2019.
As tourism has been one of the hardest-hit industries during the pandemic, companies would look to initiate new partnerships as the pandemic eases, he said.
At a business-to-business event in Lithuania last month, Taiwanese and Lithuanian companies met to find partners to establish solid tourism ties between the two nations, he added.
Having an “air travel connection” is important for tourism, and Lithuania is prepared to help its travel companies create and promote charter-flight tours to Taiwan, Morkvenas said.
As this year’s panel focused on the theme of the needing to coexist with COVID-19, the discussion between Morkvenas and Lin was one of the highlights of the travel fair, which ended on Monday.
In their discussion, Lin suggested that Taiwan could use freedom and democracy as selling points for Lithuanians, as these virtues are valued in both nations.
With Taiwan’s appreciation of outdoor scenic attractions, local firms should strike while the iron is hot and promote post-pandemic outdoor tourism to Lithuania, Lin added.
A local participant suggested organizing cultural exchanges as a means of promoting tourism between Lithuania and Taiwan.
Lin said the idea was a possibility, given how Taiwan and Japan have set a precedent through their cooperation on and appearances at each other’s celebrations.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it