Taiwan’s government is offering subsidies for domestic travel between July and October. Most people in Taiwan will not go abroad this summer due to the pandemic. But with the domestic outbreak largely contained, the government is encouraging people to take trips around the island.
On Monday, Health Minister Chen Shih-chung said, “We are moving towards ‘LOHAS epidemic prevention’. LOHAS means that everyone should go and have fun, and epidemic prevention means one should take a mask along. If you do these two things, you can travel throughout Taiwan no problem.”
People will receive discounts on their accommodations when they travel between July 1-October 31. Taiwanese citizens traveling independent of a tour group will get a NT$1,000 (US$34) discount on a night’s stay, while people staying on outlying islands will get the discount for two nights.
People traveling as part of a tour group will get a NT$700 (US$24) discount, while people traveling with a tour group to Kinmen, Matsu or Penghu will get a NT$1,200 (US$40) discount.
The government has set aside NT$3.9 billion (US$131 million) for the travel subsidy plan. They hope to see over six million travelers bring in over NT$23 billion (nearly US$800 million) worth of business for the travel industry.