Foreign tourist arrivals have risen 40 percent since Taiwan removed border controls in October last year, led by travelers from South Korea, Japan and Southeast Asia, travel e-commerce platform KKday said yesterday.
South Koreans topped the ranking of inbound tourists, followed by travelers from Japan, Hong Kong, Macau, Singapore and Malaysia, KKday said.
The findings were in line with Taiwan’s bid to attract 6 million foreign tourists this year and return to pre-COVID-19-pandemic levels next year.
Photo: CNA
As of Sunday, 1.85 million tourists had arrived in Taiwan this year, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications told a legislative hearing yesterday.
That number might reach 2 million by the end of this month after Taiwan downgraded COVID-19 and made travel into the country easier, it added.
The ministry has offered NT$5,000 worth of travel subsidies for 500,000 free independent tours and 90,000 group tours to attract foreign visitors, it said.
It was closely monitoring the target and would introduce more stimulus measures, if necessary.
The bulk of foreign tourists, 70 percent, visited Taipei and New Taipei City, followed by Taichung, Kaohsiung and Tainan, KKday said.
The destination survey showed that the Taipei 101 Observatory and the National Palace Museum were the top two tourist attractions, followed by New Taipei City’s Jioufen Township (九份), Hualien County’s Taroko Gorge (太魯閣) and the Alishan National Forest Recreation Area (阿里山國家森林遊樂區) in Chiayi County, it said.
Nantou County’s mountainous areas and beaches in Pingtung County’s Kenting National Park (墾丁國家公園) also ranked high.
Inbound tourists’ travel focus differs based on nationality, with South Koreans seeking out Taiwanese cuisine, while Japanese travelers consider Jioufen a must-visit destination, KKday said.
Tourists from Hong Kong and Macau like to travel as much as possible during their visits, but those from Singapore top the list for spending, it said.
Transportation is among the most in-demand services among foreign tourists, as they need high-speed rail tickets, car rentals and one-day or multiday tours to reach New Taipei City’s coastal areas, Nantou County’s Cingjing Farm (清境農場), Taroko Gorge or Alishan, KKday said.
Unique experiences, hot springs, lighting sky lanterns and do-it-yourself bakery activities also rank high on the itinerary of foreign tourists, it said.
‘SWASTICAR’: Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s close association with Donald Trump has prompted opponents to brand him a ‘Nazi’ and resulted in a dramatic drop in sales Demonstrators descended on Tesla Inc dealerships across the US, and in Europe and Canada on Saturday to protest company chief Elon Musk, who has amassed extraordinary power as a top adviser to US President Donald Trump. Waving signs with messages such as “Musk is stealing our money” and “Reclaim our country,” the protests largely took place peacefully following fiery episodes of vandalism on Tesla vehicles, dealerships and other facilities in recent weeks that US officials have denounced as terrorism. Hundreds rallied on Saturday outside the Tesla dealership in Manhattan. Some blasted Musk, the world’s richest man, while others demanded the shuttering of his
Taiwan’s official purchasing managers’ index (PMI) last month rose 0.2 percentage points to 54.2, in a second consecutive month of expansion, thanks to front-loading demand intended to avoid potential US tariff hikes, the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) said yesterday. While short-term demand appeared robust, uncertainties rose due to US President Donald Trump’s unpredictable trade policy, CIER president Lien Hsien-ming (連賢明) told a news conference in Taipei. Taiwan’s economy this year would be characterized by high-level fluctuations and the volatility would be wilder than most expect, Lien said Demand for electronics, particularly semiconductors, continues to benefit from US technology giants’ effort
ADVERSARIES: The new list includes 11 entities in China and one in Taiwan, which is a local branch of Chinese cloud computing firm Inspur Group The US added dozens of entities to a trade blacklist on Tuesday, the US Department of Commerce said, in part to disrupt Beijing’s artificial intelligence (AI) and advanced computing capabilities. The action affects 80 entities from countries including China, the United Arab Emirates and Iran, with the commerce department citing their “activities contrary to US national security and foreign policy.” Those added to the “entity list” are restricted from obtaining US items and technologies without government authorization. “We will not allow adversaries to exploit American technology to bolster their own militaries and threaten American lives,” US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick said. The entities
TIGHT-LIPPED: UMC said it had no merger plans at the moment, after Nikkei Asia reported that the firm and GlobalFoundries were considering restarting merger talks United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電), the world’s No. 4 contract chipmaker, yesterday launched a new US$5 billion 12-inch chip factory in Singapore as part of its latest effort to diversify its manufacturing footprint amid growing geopolitical risks. The new factory, adjacent to UMC’s existing Singapore fab in the Pasir Res Wafer Fab Park, is scheduled to enter volume production next year, utilizing mature 22-nanometer and 28-nanometer process technologies, UMC said in a statement. The company plans to invest US$5 billion during the first phase of the new fab, which would have an installed capacity of 30,000 12-inch wafers per month, it said. The
RSS