COUNTERBALANCE: The program, which begins on Sept. 1 and runs to the end of the year, is aimed at motivating about 7.68 million people to travel

Taipei Times
Date: Aug 02, 2019
By: Shelley Shan  /  Staff reporter

The Tourism Bureau yesterday released the details of its fall and winter domestic travel subsidy program, which is expected to generate more than NT$25.6 billion (US$821 million) for the tourism industry.

The announcement came one day after Minister of Transportation and Communications Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said that the Executive Yuan would budget NT$3.6 billion for the program in response to China’s suspension of a program that allowed individual tourists from 47 cities to travel to Taiwan, which took effect yesterday.

The move was a tactic to interfere in the presidential election in January next year, Lin said.

Tourism operators estimated that it could result in a loss of 500,000 to 700,000 tourists from China in the next six months.    [FULL  STORY]