Taiwan is planning to offer tourists $165 American dollars per person to go on vacation in the country. Cash rewards will also be offered to tour groups to encourage them to visit the island.
Taiwan’s Prime Minister, Chen Chien-jen, announced Thursday, Feb. 23, that the government aims to attract six million tourists in 2023 and 10 million visitors by 2025.
To achieve this, they’ll give handouts of NT$5,000 ($165) to 500,000 individual tourists. Allowances of up to NT$20,000 ($658) is supposed to be provided to 90,000 tour groups.
Transport Minister Wang Kuo-tsai stated Wednesday, Feb. 22, that the cash allowance will be delivered digitally. Tourists will be able to use it to cover their expenses in Taiwan, including accommodation.
He added that the goal is to attract more visitors from key markets including Japan, South Korea, Southeast Asia, Hong Kong and Macao, as well as Europe and the States.
Taiwan had less than 900,000 inbound visitors in 2022, according to statistics from Taiwan Tourism Bureau.
Those figures are a fraction of those from 2019, where Taiwan had a record of 11.8 million international tourists. 7% more than the year before.
The island lifted its entry restrictions in October 2022, after one of the longest border closures in the world.
The government has yet to announce when the plan will unfold or how to apply for the money.
Source: cnn.com
