A Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Taipei City councilor yesterday slammed the Taipei City Government for offering an “embarrassing” travel package to Japanese tourists that includes stops at the Taipei Martyrs Shrine and the suspended Maokong Gondola.
The “Good Fortune” travel package designed by the city’s Department of Information and Tourism and EVA Airways offers a free tour guide and prizes to Japanese tourists visiting Taipei between June 15 and September.
The guide suggests six routes, which include stops at Taipei Confucius Temple, Xingtian Temple, Shilin Night Market, Taipei 101, the Martyrs Shrine, Maokong Gondola and Beitou Park.
PHOTO: CHANG CHIA-MING, TAIPEI TIMES
“Isn’t it ridiculous to take Japanese to Martyrs Shrine to pay their respects to heroes who sacrificed themselves against the Japanese?” DPP Taipei City Councilor Chuang Ruei-hsiung (莊瑞雄) said.
The Maokong Gondola has been suspended for several months, while Beitou Park has been under construction for three years, Chuang said, condemning the city officials for negligence.
“The travel package planners were obviously planning the routes in their heads. They don’t know the Maokong Gondola is suspended and they don’t know the situation at Beitou Park,” Chuang said.
The promotional package cost the city government NT$10 million (US$300,000), Chuang said.
However, Huang Ru-miao (黃如妙), a division chief at the department, said the department had sent the package to Japanese travel agencies for review and they had agreed to the routes. Many Japanese want to visit Martyrs Shrine to “reflect upon part of Japanese history,” she said.
The department included the cable car in the routes because of the scenery and tea culture in the Maokong area, she said.
Meanwhile, the spread of the swine flu in Japan is taking its toll on Taiwan’s travel industry.
EVA Air president Jeng Kuang-yeun (鄭光遠) said yesterday the airline would suspend its regular flights from Taipei to Los Angeles via Osaka, starting Tuesday.
“Our flights to Japan suffered a great deal because of the swine flu,” Jeng said. “Now that the spread of the flu appears to have slowed down, we hope the situation would encourage people to start traveling again and that passengers will gradually return over the summer.”
Tourism Bureau statistics show that approximately 79,000 Japanese visited Taiwan in April, down 3 percent from April last year.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY SHELLEY SHAN
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