Taiwan’s tourism industry has indirectly benefited from worsening relations between Japan and South Korea, Taiwan Tourism Development Association vice president Ko Mu-chou (柯牧洲) said, while another industry source said that the effects would be limited.
If Taiwan is able to grasp the opportunity, in addition to the steady growth in visitor arrivals from Japan and South Korea in the second half of the year, it could see arrivals from those two nations increase by an additional 5 percent, Ko said.
Due to reports of violence in Hong Kong, many Japanese student groups that were originally going on exchange trips to Hong Kong have instead come to Taiwan, he said.
However, as the hotel sector is entering its peak season, it might be difficult for hotels to accommodate groups of more than 300, he said.
Many South Korean tour groups have recently changed their destinations from Japan to Taiwan due to the trade dispute between Japan and South Korea, said a travel agent who has worked with Japanese and South Korean clients for several years.
However, the number of groups that have done so has not been as high as expected, primarily because over the past few years Taiwan’s tourism market has not changed, said the agent, who asked not to be named.
Over the past decade, no new attractions have rivalled the National Palace Museum or Taipei 101, the agent said.
While the dispute would benefit the tourism sector in the short term, the long-term effects would still depend on demand and whether Taiwan appeals to travelers, they said.
Without a new “product,” Taiwan cannot attract visitors, the agent said, adding that Japanese and South Korean travelers have options other than Taiwan.
The government should focus on telling visitors what they can do in Taiwan and developing new attractions and infrastructure.
China on Wednesday announced that it was suspending a program that allowed individual tourists from 47 Chinese cities to travel to Taiwan, citing the current state of relations between the two sides.
Chinese nationals may only travel to Taiwan as tourists if they are part of tour groups, the Chinese Ministry of Culture and Tourism said in a statement.
CAUTION: Based on intelligence from the nation’s security agencies, MOFA has cautioned Taiwanese travelers about heightened safety risks in China-friendly countries The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday urged Taiwanese to be aware of their safety when traveling abroad, especially in countries that are friendly to China. China in June last year issued 22 guidelines that allow its courts to try in absentia and sentence to death so-called “diehard” Taiwanese independence activists, even though Chinese courts have no jurisdiction in Taiwan. Late last month, a senior Chinese official gave closed-door instructions to state security units to implement the guidelines in countries friendly to China, a government memo and a senior Taiwan security official said, based on information gathered by Taiwan’s intelligence agency. The
The National Immigration Agency (NIA) said yesterday that it will revoke the dependent-based residence permit of a Chinese social media influencer who reportedly “openly advocated for [China’s] unification through military force” with Taiwan. The Chinese national, identified by her surname Liu (劉), will have her residence permit revoked in accordance with Article 14 of the “Measures for the permission of family- based residence, long-term residence and settlement of people from the Mainland Area in the Taiwan Area,” the NIA said in a news release. The agency explained it received reports that Liu made “unifying Taiwan through military force” statements on her online
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, said yesterday that it is looking to hire 8,000 people this year, at a time when the tech giant is expanding production capacity to maintain its lead over competitors. To attract talent, TSMC would launch a large-scale recruitment campaign on campuses across Taiwan, where a newly recruited engineer with a master’s degree could expect to receive an average salary of NT$2.2 million (US$60,912), which is much higher than the 2023 national average of NT$709,000 for those in the same category, according to government statistics. TSMC, which accounted for more than 60 percent
Tung Tzu-hsien (童子賢), a Taiwanese businessman and deputy convener of the nation’s National Climate Change Committee, said yesterday that “electrical power is national power” and nuclear energy is “very important to Taiwan.” Tung made the remarks, suggesting that his views do not align with the country’s current official policy of phasing out nuclear energy, at a forum organized by the Taiwan People’s Party titled “Challenges and Prospects of Taiwan’s AI Industry and Energy Policy.” “Taiwan is currently pursuing industries with high added- value and is developing vigorously, and this all requires electricity,” said the chairman
RSS