The drowning tragedy that happened at Nantou's Wujie Dam still sparks discussion and controversy. While the Tourism Bureau blamed the campers, saying they were in a restricted area, netizens pointed out the bureau has been promoting the area as a travel destination since February. The itinerary, however, has been removed from its website after the incident.
Four campers recently drowned at Wujie Dam and the area is now closed to the public. However, many travel agencies still have Wujie Dam itineraries on their websites. All of them trace back to an itinerary first published by the Tourism Bureau earlier this year. The itineraries include activities like watching the sunrise in a tea field and a treasure hunt at the dam. Although there is fine print saying the treasure hunt is only available during dry season, the Tourism Bureau has removed the itinerary from its website.
It's probably been taken down already in order to implement this safety-related request. So, I have already asked the Tourism Bureau to contact all the travel agencies to reassess various previously published itineraries.
The Ministry of Transportation and Communications says the Tourism Bureau itinerary was only a "demonstration" itinerary drafted at the request of a travel agent association. It also says the bureau has been ordered to conduct a thorough evaluation of similar itineraries, and it has already notified travel agents of the dangers of the itinerary in writing.
Because of what happened -- the accident that happened -- downstream activities like the riverbed one have already been suspended. That area is now restricted anyway.
Travel agents say Wujie is popular with tourists because it is not overdeveloped and all itineraries to the area will comply with new Tourism Bureau regulations, including the removal of water and canyoning activities.