The foreign ministry and Taiwan’s external trade council have held an event encouraging travel to several allied nations once the COVID-19 pandemic ends.
The foreign ministry and TAITRA, Taiwan’s external trade council, both foresee a surge in international travel once the pandemic ends. The two organizations hope that Thursday’s promotional event will convince more Taiwanese people to travel to countries that maintain diplomatic ties to Taiwan once international travel becomes possible again.
One foreign ministry official says that traveling to countries that recognize Taiwan will help local tourism industries in those countries recover from the pandemic. But they also say that travel to these countries will also give Taiwanese travelers a chance to take on the role of informal “citizen diplomats”, representing Taiwan abroad.
Countries promoted at the event included St. Kitts and Nevis, Haiti, Belize, and Tuvalu. Taiwanese travel YouTubers who have been to these countries were invited to the event to share their experiences. Also during the event, Taiwan’s Travel Quality Assurance Association signed a memorandum of understanding with Palau’s tourism bureau on cooperation.