For the first time, the Philippines is on track to become the top Southeast Asian source of tourists to Taiwan in 2024, with 415,635 visitors recorded from January to November, according to the Tourism Administration.
Data showed the figure exceeded the 384,000 Malaysians and 376,000 Singaporeans in the same period.
Thailand was fourth with 356,000 visitors, and Vietnam was fifth with 344,000.
Photo: CNA
While data for the whole year is not yet available, the government agency said that December is peak travel season for Filipino travelers, indicating that the country is likely to top the list of visitors from Southeast Asian visitors to Taiwan last year.
Regarding global visitors, the country ranked at number five, trailing behind Japan, Hong Kong and Macau, South Korea and the United States, according to a Thursday news release.
Meanwhile, the Tourism Administration said that Taiwan will participate in the Philippine Travel Agencies Association (PTAA) TravelTour Expo 2025 slated to begin today in Pasay City.
A "Taiwan Pavilion" featuring Filipino star Gabbi Garcia and model Khalil Ramos highlighting the charm of Taiwan will be set up in a bid to attract visitors, it said, adding it will also team up with a total of 21 organizations including travel industry associations, travel agencies, hotels and theme parks at the expo.
On Feb. 10-11, it will also hold promotional events at Manila and Clark Freeport and Special Economic Zone to promote Taiwan travel to Filipino travel agencies, airlines and media, it said.
The inspection equipment and data transmission system for new robotic dogs that Taipei is planning to use for sidewalk patrols were developed by a Taiwanese company, the city’s New Construction Office said today, dismissing concerns that the China-made robots could pose a security risk. The city is bringing in smart robotic dogs to help with sidewalk inspections, Taipei Deputy Mayor Lee Ssu-chuan (李四川) said on Facebook. Equipped with a panoramic surveillance system, the robots would be able to automatically flag problems and easily navigate narrow sidewalks, making inspections faster and more accurate, Lee said. By collecting more accurate data, they would help Taipei
TAKING STOCK: The USMC is rebuilding a once-abandoned airfield in Palau to support large-scale ground operations as China’s missile range grows, Naval News reported The US Marine Corps (USMC) is considering new sites for stockpiling equipment in the West Pacific to harden military supply chains and enhance mobility across the Indo-Pacific region, US-based Naval News reported on Saturday. The proposed sites in Palau — one of Taiwan’s diplomatic allies — and Australia would enable a “rapid standup of stored equipment within a year” of the program’s approval, the report said, citing documents published by the USMC last month. In Palau, the service is rebuilding a formerly abandoned World War II-era airfield and establishing ancillary structures to support large-scale ground operations “as China’s missile range and magazine
STATS: Taiwan’s average life expectancy of 80.77 years was lower than that of Japan, Singapore and South Korea, but higher than in China, Malaysia and Indonesia Taiwan’s average life expectancy last year increased to 80.77 years, but was still not back to its pre-COVID-19 pandemic peak of 81.32 years in 2020, the Ministry of the Interior said yesterday. The average life expectancy last year increased the 0.54 years from 2023, the ministry said in a statement. For men and women, the average life expectancy last year was 77.42 years and 84.30 years respectively, up 0.48 years and 0.56 years from the previous year. Taiwan’s average life expectancy peaked at 81.32 years in 2020, as the nation was relatively unaffected by the pandemic that year. The metric
A 72-year-old man in Kaohsiung was sentenced to 40 days in jail after he was found having sex with a 67-year-old woman under a slide in a public park on Sunday afternoon. At 3pm on Sunday, a mother surnamed Liang (梁) was with her child at a neighborhood park when they found the man, surnamed Tsai (蔡), and woman, surnamed Huang (黃), underneath the slide. Liang took her child away from the scene, took photographs of the two and called the police, who arrived and arrested the couple. During questioning, Tsai told police that he had met Huang that day and offered to
RSS