Taitung Left Behind in Tourism Support|觀光補助漏了台東 旅宿業怨:影響大

To promote domestic tourism, the government is providing subsidies for four southern counties and cities. That's after they did so for Hualien following the earthquake in February. But Taitung County has been left out of this plan and tourism professionals there are not happy.


Arriving at the Jialulan scenic area on Taiwan's East Coast, the usual weekend crowds aren't jamming the walkways and those that do come don't stay very long any more. People here say visitors are bypassing Taitung as they head for Hualien. Why? Because the government has provided post-earthquake subsidies for tourist lodgings and tourist spending for Taitung's neighbor, leaving Taitung out.

Because there is no subsidy, we did not consider staying here.

Now transportation authorities are designing an allowance to four counties and cities in the south, modeled after the subsidies that are attracting tourists to Hualien. The travel industry in Taitung County is disheartened. Geographically squashed between Hualien and the four southern regions, Taitung has been left out. It is the sightseeing destination that has been forgotten.

We all feel that it is like we are not the people of the Republic of China. Everyone is very angry.
Tourism professionals say the occupancy rate of accommodations in Taitung County is only a third of what it has been. That's due to the drop in the number of mainland Chinese tourists in the past two years.

Many hotels have been forced out of business as losses have piled up. The tourism industry in Taitung hopes that the government works to revitalize the entire nation's tourism sector, and not just a few counties and cities.