Wed, Jan 08, 2025 page2

• Tourism agency aims to boost visitors’ spending

  BIRDS AND TRAINS: The Tourism Administration’s director-general said theme tours such as railway tours and bird-watching might attract European visitors

  • By Shelley Shan / Staff reporter
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  The Tourism Administration yesterday said it aims to increase how much international tourists spend in Taiwan in the next three years.

  Last year, the nation welcomed 7.85 million international visitors, despite the negative reports amid Chinese military exercises and a magnitude 7.2 earthquake that devastated Hualien County, it said.

  However, that was short of the Tourism Administration’s goal of 10 million.

  

  People walk through Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport in an undated photograph.

  Photo: Taipei Times

  The agency has set the same goal of 10 million for this year.

  “That is not the only goal we hope to achieve. We also need to raise the output value generated from tourism,” Tourism Administration Director-General Chou Yung-hui (周永暉) said.

  International tourists spend about US$180 per day on average, Chou said.

  That figure should increase to US$185 this year, US$190 next year and US$195 in 2027, he said.

  “We will discuss with the Ministry of Economic Affairs’ Administration of Commerce about supporting measures to reach the goal,” he said.

  Taiwanese cuisine should be leveraged to boost the attractiveness of scenic areas, he said, adding that instead of hoodwinking tourists, vendors in scenic areas should do business honestly.

  “That does not mean that they must keep prices low. A product can cost a bit more if it is one of a kind and is linked to a special part of Taiwan,” Chou said.

  Public transport systems, including airlines, shipping services, the high speed rail, as well as the services of Taiwan Railway Corp, Taiwan Tourist Shuttle Service and Taiwan Tour Bus, should facilitate travel for all tourists, he said.

  Artificial intelligence technology should be used to upgrade the tourism industry, Chou said.

  With the Taipei International Travel Fair targeting individual travelers, the agency would expand travel fairs for industry operators and to facilitate partnerships, he said.

  “We should use theme tours, such as bird-watching and railway tours, to attract European tourists to transit through Taiwan,” Chou said.

  The agency is recruiting a contractor to manage the facilities at Dapeng Bay (大鵬灣) in Pingtung County’s Donggang Township (東港), Chou said.

  The contractor would manage a racetrack, a dock and a hang gliding area, as well as build a golf course and a water villa resort and operate them before transferring them to the government, he said.

  The golf course, once completed, would be the first in Taiwan on the coast, Chou said, adding that it would be expected to attract high-end tourists.

  The government is to stop giving subsidies to domestic travelers unless there is a natural disaster, he said.

  The government last year spent about NT$1.26 billion (US$38.49 million) in subsidies for people who traveled to Hualien or Taitung counties, which helped boost hotel occupancy in the counties to 50 percent in November after the earthquake on April 3, he said.

  The occupancy rate slid to 20 percent when the subsidy program ended last month, agency data showed.

  The Executive Yuan is to convene a meeting later this month to address challenges facing Taiwan’s tourism industry, such as shortage of workers in the hotel and accommodation services, Chou said.
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