The Tourism Bureau is assessing the feasibility of capping the number of people allowed to visit Orchid Island (Lanyu, 蘭嶼), Green Island (綠島) and Siaoliouciou Island (小琉球), Director-General Chou Yung-hui (周永暉) said.
“Between ecological conservation and tourism, society has gradually adopted the concept of a tourism cap,” Chou said, adding that the bureau hopes to find a balance between tourism development and the quality of tourism.
As people become more environmentally conscious, an increasing number of popular travel destinations have seen local residents call for limits on the number of tourists in their areas.
Photo: Hsiao Yu-hsin, Taipei Times
On Orchid Island, where tourism — and consequently the amount of trash — surges during the summer, residents first proposed capping the number of visitors two to three years ago.
Siaoliouciou Island, which had more than 1 million visitors last year and has seen its intertidal zone damaged, is scheduled to host a panel for local residents this month to discuss a tourism cap.
Turtle Island (Gueishan Island, 龜山島), Yehliu Geopark (野柳地質公園) in New Taipei City, and Kinmen County’s Dadan Island (大膽島) and Lieyu Township (烈嶼) have already adopted such caps, Chou said.
The bureau is now considering other areas and will discuss caps on islands with the public at the Modern Tourism Forum, he said.
During its peak tourism season last year, Siaoliouciou Island broke its daily water usage record of 6,000 tonnes, while surges in electricity usage led to a power outage on parts of the island, said Chen Wen-yu (陳文玉), the director of a tourism association on the island.
There should be a cap on the number of tourists and visitor activities should also be spread out instead of concentrating in the intertidal zone, Chen said.
Introducing a cap for Siaoliouciou could lead to protests because not many people visit the island on weekdays and tourism is largely concentrated on weekends or holidays, Liouciou Fishermen’s Association chief executive Tsai Pao-hsing (蔡寶興) said.
Now that Siaoliouciou Island has become a prime tourist attraction, the government should reassess its plans for land use and reduce the amount of farmland on the island, he added.
Lanyu Township Representative Council Chairman Chang chin-shang (張錦商) said he backs the idea of a cap, but also believes there should be supplementary measures and communication between the tourism industry and local representatives.
Many visitors to Orchid Island generate large of amounts of trash and disturb the environment, and the island cannot sustain such practices, he said.
Some day-trippers use the public restrooms, leave their trash and depart without spending any money on the island, he said, adding that if a cap is introduced, he hopes it would promote two-night stays on the island.
Lyudao Township Representative Council Chairman Ho Fu-hsiang (何富祥) said the number of visitors to Green Island has dramatically increased in the past three to five years.
If a cap is introduced in the summer, the peak tourism season, and no one visits in the winter, the policy would be criticized by island residents, he said.
The bureau should disclose its basis for evaluating the feasibility of a cap and protect legal hotels and guest houses instead of allowing the continued construction of illegal guest houses, he said.
The bureau has also tried to curb overcrowding by encouraging people to visit popular areas at different times throughout the day, Chou said.
For example, last month it allowed nighttime visits to Yehliu Geopark’s “Queen’s Head” (女王頭) for the first time, he said.
Additional reporting by Yeh Yung-chien
GEARING UP: An invasion would be difficult and would strain China’s forces, but it has conducted large-scale training supporting an invasion scenario, the report said China increased its military pressure on Taiwan last year and took other steps in preparation for a potential invasion, an annual report published by the US Department of Defense on Wednesday showed. “Throughout 2023, Beijing continued to erode longstanding norms in and around Taiwan by employing a range of pressure tactics against Taiwan,” the report said, which is titled “Military and Security Developments Involving the People’s Republic of China (PRC) 2024.” The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) “is preparing for a contingency to unify Taiwan with the PRC by force, if perceived as necessary by Beijing, while simultaneously deterring, delaying or denying
PEACEFUL RESOLUTION: A statement issued following a meeting between Australia and Britain reiterated support for Taiwan and opposition to change in the Taiwan Strait Canada should support the peaceful resolution of Taiwan’s destiny according to the will of Taiwanese, Canadian lawmakers said in a resolution marking the second anniversary of that nation’s Indo-Pacific strategy on Monday. The Canadian House of Commons committee on Canada-Chinese relations made the comment as part of 34 recommendations for the new edition of the strategy, adding that Ottawa should back Taiwan’s meaningful participation in international organizations. Canada’s Indo-Pacific Strategy, first published in October 2022, emphasized that the region’s security, trade, human rights, democracy and environmental protection would play a crucial role in shaping Canada’s future. The strategy called for Canada to deepen
TECH CONFERENCE: Input from industry and academic experts can contribute to future policymaking across government agencies, President William Lai said Multifunctional service robots could be the next new area in which Taiwan could play a significant role, given its strengths in chip manufacturing and software design, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) chairman and chief executive C.C. Wei (魏哲家) said yesterday. “In the past two months, our customers shared a lot of their future plans with me. Artificial intelligence [AI] and AI applications were the most talked about subjects in our conversation,” Wei said in a speech at the National Science and Technology Conference in Taipei. TSMC, the world’s biggest contract chipmaker, counts Nvidia Corp, Advanced Micro Devices Inc, Apple Inc and
LEAP FORWARD: The new tanks are ‘decades more advanced than’ the army’s current fleet and would enable it to compete with China’s tanks, a source said A shipment of 38 US-made M1A2T Abrams tanks — part of a military procurement package from the US — arrived at the Port of Taipei early yesterday. The vehicles are the first batch of 108 tanks and other items that then-US president Donald Trump announced for Taiwan in 2019. The Ministry of National Defense at the time allocated NT$40.5 billion (US$1.25 billion) for the purchase. To accommodate the arrival of the tanks, the port suspended the use of all terminals and storage area machinery from 6pm last night until 7am this morning. The tanks are expected to be deployed at the army’s training
RSS