Premier Lin Chuan today, noting that every crisis is an opportunity, urged the domestic tourism industry to transform itself and provide in-depth, unique and top-quality travel experiences.
After a briefing by the Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) about tourism promotions at today's Executive Yuan meeting, Premier Lin affirmed that Taiwan is rich in tourism resources with great potential to attract international tourists. Despite the negative impact of the decline in mainland Chinese tourists during the second half of this year, this year still saw Taiwan register its 10 millionth foreign visitor nine days earlier than last year, he said.
The tourism industry must be well-prepared for the challenge and impact of fewer visitors from mainland China, the premier continued, and can use this opportunity to transform itself by developing more comprehensive, high-quality domestic tours. The government also hopes that National Travel Cards, a program that subsidizes yearly travel expenses for civil servants, teachers and military personnel, will encourage tourism businesses to review their domestic tour services.
The premier said the tourism industry must attract more foreign travelers to diversify its clientele, provide more in-depth travel experiences to counteract the impact of political factors, design more convenient itineraries, develop local attractions, bring hotels or other public services up to international standards and offer affordable prices. He also directed the MOTC to make plans to promote special events such as the 2017 Summer Universiade in Taipei and draw foreign tourists throughout the year to bolster domestic tourism development.
The MOTC stated that as of December 16, under a project to expand domestic tourism, 567 travel agencies had applied for domestic tour group subsidies. Under that project 4,062 subsidized groups, 79 percent of all such groups, visited nine cities and counties hard hit by the drop in mainland Chinese tourists. A total of 179,829 tourists participated in subsidized tours, with travel agencies applying for subsidies worth NT$236.47 million (US$7.45 million), or 79 percent of the total of NT$300 million (US$9.45 million), and generating about NT$870 million (US$27.39 million) in business opportunities.
Also at today's meeting, the National Development Council (NDC) reported to the premier on a new National Travel Card scheme that will start next year to help boost domestic tourism. Public-sector employees will receive over NT$8,000 (US$252) annually through their travel cards, and are required to spend at least NT$8000 of the subsidy on one or more of the following:
1. Group tours organized by government agencies.
2. Group tours organized by travel agencies.
3. Tour packages offered on the Taiwan Tour Bus website.
The NDC said the new scheme will be implemented as a pilot project for one year, beginning on January 1, 2017. It will also carry out ongoing, rolling reviews to see whether this program helps counteract the decline in mainland Chinese tourists and upgrade the tourism industry.