Taiwan is paying tourists to visit—here’s what you need to know

Many countries continue to struggle to bring back tourism on the scale that it was before the COVID-19 pandemic. Places like Hong Kong and regions in Italy have turned to offering free travel and even free houses to encourage people to visit and to help boost their economies.

The latest country on that list is Taiwan. The government is offering tourists 5,000 New Taiwan dollars (about $163 USD) per traveler or NT$20,000 (about $653 USD) for up to 90,000 tour groups.

According to The Points Guy, Chang Shi-chung, the director-general of the Taiwan Tourism Bureau, said the money would be sent via a digital tourist card to ensure the funds go directly to the country’s tourism. Travelers will be able to use the cards for food, accommodation and other travel expenses.

The country is focusing on attracting more visitors from places like Japan, South Korea, Southeast Asia, Hong Kong and Macao, Europe, and the U.S.

According to the Taiwan Tourism Bureau, the country saw under 900,000 visitors in 2022 compared to a record 11.8 million international tourists in 2019.

It’s still unclear when and how Taiwan will start distributing the digital tourist cards, as the government hasn’t yet released its plan.

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