The Tourism Bureau was officially redesignated the Tourism Administration yesterday, with Director-General Chou Yung-hui (周永暉) vowing to collect regular feedback and expand the international tourist market.
Speaking at a ceremony to unveil the plaque for the agency, Chou said that it would enhance collaboration with the tourism industry, be responsive to the sector’s needs, accelerate recovery of tourism and convene experts to help with strategy.
The team would include Lion Travel Services Co (雄獅旅行社) chairman Jason Wang (王文傑) and Formosa International Hotels Corp (晶華國際酒店集團) chairman Steven Pan, he said.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
The agency would also boost its collaboration with the Ministry of Culture, the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Education, the Hakka Affairs Council and the Council of Indigenous Peoples, Chou said.
Academic cooperation with the tourism industry is to be enhanced under the Tourism Administration’s guidance, especially to solve a labor shortage, he said.
Middle-aged and elderly people rejoining the workforce and university students should be targeted for recruitment, as they can attract tourists across age groups and improve the quality of service, Chou said.
Taiwan needs to double down on efforts to restore the nation’s exchange of tourists with Japan, South Korea, Vietnam and the Philippines, he said.
Tourism service centers and other facilities should be developed in connection with pleasure cruises to South Korea’s Busan, and prospective destinations in Indonesia and India, Chou said.
Taiwan would also welcome the resumption of cross-strait travel, he said.
Additionally, the Tourism Administration is to launch a joint effort with the Taiwan Visitors’ Association to draw big-spending tourists from the EU and UK, he said.
Vice Premier Cheng Wen-tsan (鄭文燦) said he hopes Taiwan and China can restart tours simultaneously, adding that the number of visitors should be capped at 2,000 for now.
The Executive Yuan would do what it can to address the lack of workers in the tourism industry by convening ministries, Cheng said
Minister of Transportation and Communications Wang Kwo-tsai (王國材) said that Taiwan would welcome Chinese visitors and his ministry has made preparations to receive tourists from across the Taiwan Strait.
Separately, the Central Weather Bureau was also officially redesignated as the Central Weather Administration (CWA).
The weather agency said in a news release that its mission is to obtain and make use of new technologies enabling it to have a positive impact on the public, help society and serve national interests.
It would continue to provide crucial weather data and would strive to play a larger role in scientific research into climate change, it said, adding that a joint project with the National Science and Technology Council is being prepared.
Wang Kwo-tsai was cited as saying that while the reorganization did not increase the weather agency’s personnel, the transportation ministry intends to support it in the acquisition of supercomputers and new weather stations.
Tropical Storm Usagi strengthened to a typhoon yesterday morning and remains on track to brush past southeastern Taiwan from tomorrow to Sunday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was approximately 950km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost point, the CWA said. It is expected to enter the Bashi Channel and then turn north, moving into waters southeast of Taiwan, it said. The agency said it could issue a sea warning in the early hours of today and a land warning in the afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was moving at
DISCONTENT: The CCP finds positive content about the lives of the Chinese living in Taiwan threatening, as such video could upset people in China, an expert said Chinese spouses of Taiwanese who make videos about their lives in Taiwan have been facing online threats from people in China, a source said yesterday. Some young Chinese spouses of Taiwanese make videos about their lives in Taiwan, often speaking favorably about their living conditions in the nation compared with those in China, the source said. However, the videos have caught the attention of Chinese officials, causing the spouses to come under attack by Beijing’s cyberarmy, they said. “People have been messing with the YouTube channels of these Chinese spouses and have been harassing their family members back in China,”
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said there are four weather systems in the western Pacific, with one likely to strengthen into a tropical storm and pose a threat to Taiwan. The nascent tropical storm would be named Usagi and would be the fourth storm in the western Pacific at the moment, along with Typhoon Yinxing and tropical storms Toraji and Manyi, the CWA said. It would be the first time that four tropical cyclones exist simultaneously in November, it added. Records from the meteorology agency showed that three tropical cyclones existed concurrently in January in 1968, 1991 and 1992.
GEOPOLITICAL CONCERNS: Foreign companies such as Nissan, Volkswagen and Konica Minolta have pulled back their operations in China this year Foreign companies pulled more money from China last quarter, a sign that some investors are still pessimistic even as Beijing rolls out stimulus measures aimed at stabilizing growth. China’s direct investment liabilities in its balance of payments dropped US$8.1 billion in the third quarter, data released by the Chinese State Administration of Foreign Exchange showed on Friday. The gauge, which measures foreign direct investment (FDI) in China, was down almost US$13 billion for the first nine months of the year. Foreign investment into China has slumped in the past three years after hitting a record in 2021, a casualty of geopolitical tensions,
RSS