Singapore a good model
An advisor to Taiwan’s travel agent association says the country would benefit from an amusement or theme park to boost tourism along with legal casinos.
Kao Ming-tu says Singapore is the right model for Taiwan and could help reduce the country’s “tourism deficit,” reported the Liberty Times.
According to statistics from the Taiwan Tourism Bureau, that deficit came to NT$374 billion (US$12.13 billion) in 2017, meaning Taiwanese spent much more money abroad than international tourists spent in Taiwan. The deficit was exacerbated by the rise of cheap flights throughout the region; the Taiwan Times reported that Taiwanese people could spend NT$780 billion (US$25.3 billion) on international travel this year.
But Liu Hsi-lin, deputy head of National Kaohsiung University of Hospitality and Tourism, says the argument is skewed, because Taiwanese travelers going abroad and foreign tourists coming to Taiwan are two distinct markets. Instead, he told the Liberty Times that Taiwanese people traveling abroad is a sign of a robust domestic economy.
