Taiwan island authorities they are striving to increase the flow of tourists by all means and will distribute dollars to visitors as an incentive and gratitude.
The island will allocate about $166 to 500,000 individual tourists and up to $667 to 90,000 tourist groups. According to the Taipei Times, the money will be transferred to guests' cards upon arrival, and can be used to cover any expenses during their stay in Taiwan, including food and lodging.
However, there is one subtlety. Not everyone will receive the money.
According to the report, this year the funds will be allocated as part of several tourism promotion activities. This suggests that no one is going to distribute money in one fell swoop, which means that not everyone will be stimulated.
The new stimulus program comes as the government aims to attract six million tourists in 2023, growing to ten million by 2025.
Transportation Minister Wang Kuo-tsai told the press that the island hopes to use this an incentive to attract foreign travelers from key markets, including Japan, South Korea, Southeast Asia, Hong Kong and Macau, Europe and America.
As a reminder, Taiwan canceled COVID-19 testing before travel. Then, in October, the country abolished quarantine rules, and in December, relaxed the rules for wearing masks.
Taiwan — not the first tourist destination for which tourists are paid extra to visit. In 2021, Malta introduced a local hotel payment scheme for tourists, and last year a region in northeast Italy decided to offset train fares.
At the same time, several countries introduced tourist fee plans. fees, including Thailand, Venice and Europe as a whole.