Kaohsiung’s “concert economy” injected billions of New Taiwan dollars in tourism revenue into the local economy last year, amid a concert boom driven by appearances by many international acts.
At least 157 concerts were held in Kaohsiung last year, drawing 1.71 million attendees and generating more than NT$5.7 billion (US$174.8 million) in tourism-related revenue from transportation, food, accommodation and other services, Kaohsiung government data showed.
International stars such as Ed Sheeran, Bruno Mars, English pop group Take That, and other bands and singing idols performed in Kaohsiung last year, while Japan’s LiSA held a fan meet-up in the southern port city.
Photo courtesy of Live Nation Taiwan via CNA
The Megaport Festival, one of the most iconic outdoor music festivals in Taiwan, was also held in the city last year, attracting 300,000 people, the city government said.
South Korean boy band Super Junior’s Kyuhyun, US pop rock band Maroon 5, South Korean singer Rain, South Korean band CNBLUE and Australian singer Kylie Minogue are to perform in Kaohsiung this year.
Others set to appear are Japan’s Koda Kumi and Hirosue Ryoko, Taiwanese rock band Accusefive (告五人), Hong Kong singer Jacky Cheung (張學友) and Taiwanese pop diva Jody Chiang (江蕙), the city government said.
Given the boost high-profile concerts give to Kaohsiung’s tourism economy and international visibility, the city has provided incentives and support for the concert economy, its Web site says.
These include exemptions or reductions of entertainment taxes for concert ticket revenues and venue rental fees, and administrative support, such as arranging public transportation to help resolve traffic issues around performance venues, the city’s Web site said.
The city has also devised a visitor retention plan that includes developing a nighttime economy, featuring local night markets, night clubs and bars, and improving public transportation.
ECHOVIRUS 11: The rate of enterovirus infections in northern Taiwan increased last week, with a four-year-old girl developing acute flaccid paralysis, the CDC said Two imported cases of chikungunya fever were reported last week, raising the total this year to 13 cases — the most for the same period in 18 years, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday. The two cases were a Taiwanese and a foreign national who both arrived from Indonesia, CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Deputy Director Lee Chia-lin (李佳琳) said. The 13 cases reported this year are the most for the same period since chikungunya was added to the list of notifiable communicable diseases in October 2007, she said, adding that all the cases this year were imported, including 11 from
Prosecutors in New Taipei City yesterday indicted 31 individuals affiliated with the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) for allegedly forging thousands of signatures in recall campaigns targeting three Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers. The indictments stem from investigations launched earlier this year after DPP lawmakers Su Chiao-hui (蘇巧慧) and Lee Kuen-cheng (李坤城) filed criminal complaints accusing campaign organizers of submitting false signatures in recall petitions against them. According to the New Taipei District Prosecutors Office, a total of 2,566 forged recall proposal forms in the initial proposer petition were found during the probe. Among those
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) today condemned the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) after the Czech officials confirmed that Chinese agents had surveilled Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) during her visit to Prague in March last year. Czech Military Intelligence director Petr Bartovsky yesterday said that Chinese operatives had attempted to create the conditions to carry out a demonstrative incident involving Hsiao, going as far as to plan a collision with her car. Hsiao was vice president-elect at the time. The MAC said that it has requested an explanation and demanded a public apology from Beijing. The CCP has repeatedly ignored the desires
The Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant’s license has expired and it cannot simply be restarted, the Executive Yuan said today, ahead of national debates on the nuclear power referendum. The No. 2 reactor at the Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant in Pingtung County was disconnected from the nation’s power grid and completely shut down on May 17, the day its license expired. The government would prioritize people’s safety and conduct necessary evaluations and checks if there is a need to extend the service life of the reactor, Executive Yuan spokeswoman Michelle Lee (李慧芝) told a news conference. Lee said that the referendum would read: “Do