Taiwan Budget Delay Blocks Tourism Stimulus, Civic Group Says

Taiwan’s NT$33.3 billion tourism stimulus program has been left with less than one-third of the year to operate because lawmakers delayed approval of the central government budget, the Economic Democracy Union said.

The civic group criticized the delay at a news conference held as the Legislative Yuan began its new session. Researcher Zou Yun-han said the Tourism Administration’s Tourism Dual-Engine Drive program could not function normally under the budget rules governing continuing projects. When a new budget grows sharply over the previous year, she said, the amount available during the interim period can be too small to carry out the plan.

The program was intended to combine major events, including the Taiwan Lantern Festival in Chiayi, the Taiwan Summer Festival, a bicycle tourism festival and Taiwan Good Soup, with transport services such as Taiwan Tourist Shuttle, Taiwan Tour Bus and the Taiwan Pass. Weekday and birthday accommodation subsidies were also intended to stimulate domestic spending.

“

The people who loudly criticize domestic tourism for its poor performance are instead blocking its revitalization.

Instead, the delayed budget prevented the events, transport systems and subsidies from being linked together. Registration for domestic travelers did not open until Aug. 20, while the foreign-traveler component was delayed until October, leaving about four months for implementation.

Zou said tourism accommodation cannot be stored for later use and that domestic travel is concentrated on weekends and Sundays. She argued that delays prevent policymakers from balancing demand between busy and quiet periods, leaving businesses to shift weekday costs toward holidays. In her view, the result would do little to ease public complaints that domestic travel is “expensive and crowded.”

“

Expensive and crowded.