by (Source)
Taiwan announced new incentives last week in a bid to bring in 10 million tourists by 2025 after visitor numbers fell below 900,000 in 2022.
Chen Chien-jen, Taiwan’s premier, revealed on Thursday that the government’s plan for this year is to bring in the least 6 million tourists. To reach the target, the country will offer 5,000 New Taiwan dollars (about $163) to 500,000 tourists and 20,000 New Taiwan dollars (about $651) to 90,000 tour groups.
According to the tourism bureau’s director-general Chang Shi-chung, the allowances will be distributed through a number promotional events this year.
“International tourists who are given NT$5,000 will not receive it until they arrive,” Chang explained. “It will be stored in an electronic ticket card, which can be used to pay for food, accommodation and other travel expenses during your stay here.”
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Domestic and foreign travel agencies will also be given incentives to increase tourism in Taiwan.
The country is looking to appeal to visitors from key markets such as Japan, South Korea, Southeast Asia, Europe, America, Hong Kong and Macao through the program.
In total, 5.3 billion New Taiwan dollars (about $172.5 million) were approved for allocation from last year’s tax surplus for the three-year plan.
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In addition to the financial incentives given to tourists, the government will also use the allocated money to help with hotel staff salaries in response to the hotel industry’s staff shortage.
For each new employee hired, hoteliers will receive a bonus of 5,000 New Taiwan dollars per month.
Chairman of the High Quality Travel Association, Ringo Lee, revealed that there are far more overseas travelers from Taiwan than there are inbound tourists.
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“Compared to neighboring countries, we are relatively late in reopening our borders to international tourists and have fewer funds to conduct international tourism marketing,” he added.
Taiwan is not the first to make efforts to lure tourists. Earlier this month, Hong Kong introduced its “Hello Hong Kong” campaignwhich incentivized travelers with free flights.
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