Taiwan aims to have a tourism industry valued at NT$1 trillion (US$32.2 billion) by 2030 and is looking to further connect the sector to other industries, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday during the opening of the Taipei International Travel Fair.
Taiwan’s tourism sector was valued at NT$837.8 billion last year, and we hope to grow it to NT$1 trillion by 2030, Lai said.
Lai said he looked forward to the Executive Yuan or the Ministry of Transportation and Communications establishing a task force to achieve such goals, which not only encompasses domestic travel, but also travelers coming to Taiwan and Taiwanese traveling abroad.
Photo: CNA
The value of the tourism sector is directly tied to efforts to promote domestic tourism at home and abroad, he said.
Taiwanese on average spend NT$1.4 trillion per year on tourism, of which about NT$900 billion is spent abroad and NT$500 billion goes to domestic tourism, Lai said.
“We must step up our efforts to promote domestic tourism,” he said.
Photo courtesy of the Taiwan Visitors Association
Taiwan has the capacity make domestic tourism much better, Lai said.
The sector needs work, especially in terms of quality and costs, or it risks losing potential customers to foreign tourism, he added.
More than 6 million Taiwanese visited Japan last year, citing lower travel costs, Lai said, adding that government agencies must work with the industry to help boost people’s willingness to travel within Taiwan.
All government agencies should consider themselves the Tourism Administration, and even the president must contribute to the national efforts to promote domestic tourism, he said.
Lai tapped the Ministry of Transportation and Communications, and the Tourism Administration to find which events are extremely popular in Taiwan, and come up with measures to attract tourists to attend such events, especially during non-consecutive holidays.
Lai cited Tainan’s Taiwan International Orchid Show and the International Mango Festival, the Nantou Global Tea Expo and the New Taipei City Sky Lantern Festival as examples of popular attractions, and said that such events, as well as other future programs, should look for ways to further improve event organization.
POSITIVE DEVELOPMENT: Japan and the US are expected to hold in-depth discussions on Taiwan-related issues during the meeting next month, Japanese sources said The holding of a Japan-US leaders’ meeting ahead of US President Donald Trump’s visit to China is positive news for Taiwan, former Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association representative Hiroyasu Izumi said yesterday. After the Liberal Democratic Party’s landslide victory in Japan’s House of Representatives election, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is scheduled to visit the US next month, where she is to meet with Trump ahead of the US president’s planned visit to China from March 31 to April 2 for a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平). Japan and the US are expected to hold in-depth discussions on Taiwan-related issues during the
‘LIKE-MINDED PARTNER’: Tako van Popta said it would be inappropriate to delay signing the deal with Taiwan because of China, adding he would promote the issue Canadian senators have stressed Taiwan’s importance for international trade and expressed enthusiasm for ensuring the Taiwan-Canada trade cooperation framework agreement is implemented this year. Representative to Canada Harry Tseng (曾厚仁) in an interview with the Central News Agency (CNA) said he was increasingly uneasy about Ottawa’s delays in signing the agreement, especially as Ottawa has warmed toward Beijing. There are “no negotiations left. Not only [is it] initialed, we have three versions of the text ready: English, French and Mandarin,” Tseng said. “That tells you how close we are to the final signature.” Tseng said that he hoped Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney
President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday bestowed one of Taiwan’s highest honors on Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) Ambassador Andrea Clare Bowman in recognition of her contributions to bilateral ties. “By conferring the Order of Brilliant Star with Grand Cordon on Ambassador Bowman today, I want to sincerely thank her, on behalf of the Taiwanese people, for her outstanding contribution to deepening diplomatic ties between Taiwan and SVG,” Lai said at a ceremony held at the Presidential Office in Taipei. He noted that Bowman became SVG’s first ambassador to Taiwan in 2019 and
A man walks past elementary school artworks at the Taipei Lantern Festival in Ximen District yesterday, the first day of the event. The festival is to run from 5pm to 10pm through March 15.
RSS