Want China Times, CNA 2015-03-07
Eric Chu promotes tourism in New Taipei City during his visit to Singapore, Mar. 3. (Photo/CNA) |
Singapore
is a great country despite its size, and Taiwan has much to learn from the city
state in terms of tourism, said New Taipei mayor Eric Chu upon his arrival
there Friday to promote tourism in his city.
Singapore
is one of the best tourist attractions in the world, including its success in
drawing high-end shoppers and international business travelers, said Chu, who
also chairs the ruling Kuomintang.
Two-way
travel has increased in recent years, with about 400,000 Singaporeans traveling
to Taiwan last year, up from 194,000 in 2009.
The number
of Taiwanese tourists to the city-state has risen to nearly 300,000 annually
over the past two years from 137,000 in 2009, Chu added.
To draw
travelers to New Taipei, a competition kicked off in Singapore on Friday to
select a tourism promoter.
The winner
will be rewarded a cash prize of 5,000 Singaporean dollars (US$3,670) and be
treated to a two-week stay in New Taipei, during which the winner is required
to post messages and photos on his or her trip on social media sites.
The mayor
is also scheduled to attend the NATAS Travel fair, which began Friday and will
run through Sunday.
Chu was
accompanied by Chang Kuo-wei, chairman of Taiwanese airline EVA Air, which will
increase flights to the city state to accommodate the growing two-way travel.
The airline
said it will increase the number of flights to Singapore to 10 per week from
the current seven, starting June 21, and to 11 starting July 1.
The carrier
will transport passengers in its popular Hello Kitty planes on three of the
flights, according to the airline.
No comments:
Post a Comment