TOURISM BUREAU LAUNCHES SECOND VISA-FREE MEASURE|新南向簽證再放寬 菲律賓來台也免簽

The deadlock in cross-Strait relations has greatly impacted Taiwan's tourism industry, as the number of Chinese tourists continue to decrease. To save the tourism industry, the Tourism Bureau decided to launch a second visa-free measure to attract more visitors from Southeast Asia. The measure is estimated to bring in over $800 million NTD. Taiwan's tourism industry has been facing tough times as the number of Chinese visitors decreases. However, after relaxing visa rules for visitors from ASEAN member states, tourists from Thailand and Brunei have seen a dramatic increase. According to the Tourism Bureau, in 2015, the number of Thai visitors was 124,409. In 2016, it grew by 57.25 percent to around 200,000. Taiwan also saw over a fifty percent growth in Bruneian visitors. Seeing a tourism potential from Southeast Asian countries, the Tourism Bureau decided to launch a second visa-free measure to attract more visitors. ==CHOU YUNG-HUI Director-general of Tourism Bureau, MOTC== By conservative estimates, the new measure will bring in over NT$800 million. Visa-free entry for Thai visitors will be prolonged for another year. Adding up to the visa-free measure for the Philippine visitors, we are pretty optimistic about the result. Visa-free entry for Thai and Bruneian visitors will be prolonged for another year to July 31, 2018. The Philippines will be added to the visa-free entry trial program for a year. Passport holders from India, Indonesia, Laos, Myanmar, the Philippines, and Vietnam who hold a visa expired within 10 years from the date of expected arrival in Taiwan, will now be eligible to use the online application to receive multiple-entry visas. Visitors from Sri Lanka and Bhutan can now visit Taiwan once they receive a valid tourist visa. ==CHEN HUA-YU Director-general of Bureau of Consular Affairs, MOFA== Those who have applied for ROC visas for the past ten years, around 1.35 million people, are eligible to a conditional visa-free entry. ==HSU KAO-CHING Secretary-general of Taiwan Association of Travel Agents== The visa-free entry measure only gives limited help to boost the tourism industry. What the industry needs is tour guides speaking Southeast Asian languages. Although relaxation on visa rules have helped to increase the number of visitors from Southeast Asian countries, the tourism industry is still worried that this may only be a temporal trend. Lacking enough tour guides speaking Southeast Asian languages is the most serious problem that the industry is facing. A superficial tourist experience decreases revisit rates of tourists. The tourism industry thinks that the government should solve the problem as soon as possible, or else the boost in the Southeast Asian market will be relatively short-lived. TRANSLATED BY：ARIEL HSIEH 兩岸關係陷入僵局，陸客來台人數銳減，國內旅遊業受到衝擊，為了救觀光，交通部觀光局，推動第二波新南向簽證，放寬措施，泰國、汶萊國民來台免簽證30天，將再延長一年。另外，還新增來台免簽國，菲律賓預定從今年6/1開始試辦一年。觀光局預估，這波免簽待遇可為台灣觀光收益，帶來超過8億產值。 陸客不來，台灣旅遊市場吹寒風，不過在擴大試辦東協各國來台免簽措施後，尤其，泰國與汶萊，來台觀光旅遊人數暴增，根據觀光局通統計，104年，泰國來台人數有，124409人，105年來台觀光人數，逼近20萬人，成長了57.25%，汶萊來台人數本來就不多，但也有超過五成成長率．看好東南亞觀光市場，觀光局加碼，繼續推動第二波免簽措施．預估將可為台灣帶來可觀觀光產值． ==交通部觀光局長 周永暉== 我們保守估計 就增加8億以上的產值 包括泰國免簽的部份 再展延一年 然後再搭配菲律賓的部份 其實是我們是樂觀 第二波免簽措施，包括 泰國汶萊，免簽措施再延長一年，直到2018年7月31號止，並再新增免簽待遇國，菲律賓，試辦免簽待遇一年，以及印度、印尼、越南、緬甸等6國國民，凡是持有10年內台灣簽證，就可以透過線上申請方式，取得多次入境憑證，另外斯里蘭卡及不丹，則調整為一般簽證審查國，只要取得觀光簽證就可以來台． ==外交部領事局長 陳華玉== 過去10年曾經有申請過 中華民國簽證的 都可以適用這一個所謂的 也叫做有條件式的免簽 整體(人數)加起來 一共135萬人 ==台灣旅行商業同業公會 秘書長 許高慶== 只靠一個簽證的部份給優惠 幫忙是有限的 我們所面臨的就是說 （東南亞語系)導遊不足 有了免簽措施，東南亞各國觀光人數有顯著成長，不過觀光業者悲觀認為，恐怕持久力不足，因為東南亞語系導遊人才缺乏，沒有深刻體驗，觀光客再度訪台機率不高，政府應該解決旅遊業者最迫切問題，東南亞旅遊市場，才不會曇花一現． 記者 黃立偉 張國樑台北報導