If you’ve ever wanted to visit Taiwan, now might be your perfect opportunity. The Asian country is offering a cash incentive to tourists who come.
Taiwan’s government is offering $165 to up to 500,000 individual tourists to increase tourism to the island. Taiwan’s Premier Chen Chien-jen announced that the government hopes “to attract six million tourists in 2023, doubling that figure in 2024 and aiming for 10 million visitors by 2025,” CNN Travel reported.
Tour groups could receive up to $658.
“The money will be given out through multiple tourism promotion events this year, rather than giving it all out at once,” Taiwan Tourism Bureau Director-General Chang Shi-chung said, per Taipei Times. “As such, not all international tourists would receive it.“
To address hotel work shortages, the government also announced it would provide monthly cash incentives for each new staff member hired, per Taipei Times.
The announcement did not include how to apply or when the incentive would start.
Do other countries offer cash incentives to visit?
Taiwan is not the first place to offer a cash incentive to come visit. In 2021, Malta announced it would “pay each visitor who books a three-night stay directly with select three- to five-star hotels on a scaled basis,” according to Travel + Leisure.
Malta offered to pay $119 per person for every five-star booking, $89 for 4-star hotels and $60 to each visitor staying at a three-star hotel.
Hong Kong announced earlier this month it would cover airfare for 500,000 tourists.
Here’s how to apply for the free Hong Kong flights
The flight giveaways will take place in three rounds, as follows:
- March 1: Southeast Asians can apply for tickets.
- April 1: Mainland China residents can apply.
- May 1: All international tourists can apply for the tickets.
- July 1: Hong Kong residents can apply for the “make up for lost travel time” flights the government is offering to locals, according to CNN.
