Taiwan Is Paying Travelers to Visit This Year

In an effort to reach the country's goal of welcoming six million travelers in 2023, the government of Taiwan is now offering the equivalent of $165 to individual tourists and up to $658 to tour groups who visit this year in a future program with no set launch date.

Cash rewards, according to CNN Travel, is how the country will attract more travelers to complete its goal.

The rewards will be delivered digitally, and tourists can use the cash to spend on anything in Taiwan, including their accommodation.

The country's Premier Chen Chien-jen announced the scheme on Thursday, February 23, also noting that the goal of six million travelers in 2023 will rise to 10 million by 2025.

This goal isn't completely out of range for the country; instead, it's a years-long rise towards a post-pandemic recovery of its travel and tourism industry.

The Taiwan Tourism Bureau's inbound visitor numbers showcase a dramatic fall during the first two years of the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2019, the country welcomed 11.8 million travelers, breaking previous records of visitor totals. Then in 2020 and 2021, the country welcomed only a small fraction as COVID-19 closed borders around the world.

The country only recently reopened in October 2022, and the past year saw 900,000 travelers visit the island nation.