Foreigners shouldn’t expect government-sponsored discounts when heading to Hualien, but your mileage may vary.
The News Lens
Date: 2018/03/07
Morley J Weston
photo credit: Reuters/達志影像
A push by Hualien County Magistrate Fu Kun-chi (傅崐萁) to offer accommodation vouchers as a way to revive tourism after the deadly Feb. 6 earthquake have received a confused welcome from the hospitality industry they are designed to help.
The vouchers came into effect March 6 as a means to revive a local economy devastated by the impact of the quake.
The program, explained through Microsoft Word documents on The Taiwan Tourism Bureau’s website, allows independent travelers in groups of three to 19 to receive vouchers of NT$500 (US$17) per person per night to stay in hotels in Hualien County. Separate discounts exist for groups of 20 or more.
The Tourism Bureau’s website states that these hotel vouchers are only available to ROC citizens. But word hasn’t gotten out, apparently – of eight hotels contacted by The News Lens, three insisted that foreigners were eligible for the discount, and one said that the offer was only valid for large groups. [FULL STORY]
