Premier Jiang Yi-huah said at today's Cabinet meeting that the 2013 Taiwan Lantern Festival attracted over 12 million visitors from home and abroad over its 15 days of events, breaking last year's festival record of 10 million visitors to Lukang and bringing economic benefits of over NT$10 billion (US$336 million) to Hsinchu City and County.
"A new chapter in the history of the Lantern Festival has been written," Jiang said.
"With the support of the Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC), the Taiwan Lantern Festival has become an internationally renowned celebration which has raised the island's international profile and tourism visibility, and it is becoming more unique every year," the premier continued. "There were initially concerns about safety and transport, but the public did not encounter any such problems during the festival." The premier expressed gratitude and praise to the staff of the MOTC, other contributing ministries and local governments for their efforts.
The premier emphasized that there are many advantages to rotating the festival between different cities and counties. The festival raises the profile of each host region, and each year it is imbued with different special regional qualities, he said. He also called the event a model of central and local government cooperation and hoped its successes would be imitated in other areas to further benefit Taiwan.
Next year's festival will be held in Nantou County. The premier asked the MOTC and Nantou County government to scrupulously prepare for the event so it will be as big a success as the one just concluded.