TOUGH TIMES: Tourism subsidies have raised occupancy rates in central and southern Taiwan, but rates at hotels in metropolitan areas this month remained low at 20%

Taipei Times
Date: Jun 24, 2020
By: Shelley Shan / Staff reporter, in Taitung County

The government plans to allocate an additional NT$2 billion (US$67.49 million) in subsidies for a second phase of “disease prevention tours” — scheduled to start on Wednesday next week — given high demand, Minister of Transportation and Communications Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday.

Lin, who made the announcement on a trip to Taitung to promote domestic tourism, as Taiwan’s borders remain closed to international tourists, participated in a tour of the pineapple harvest in Luye Township (鹿野鄉) and learned how to make pineapple jam.

Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, many people this summer would be visiting local tourist attractions, instead of going abroad, Lin said.

The ministry had budgeted NT$3.9 billion for the second phase of disease prevention tours, Lin said, referring to subsidies of domestic tours from next month to October.
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