Visits between Taiwan, U.S. to break 1 million in 2016: Tourism Bureau

Taipei, Nov. 2 (CNA) Visits in a single year between Taiwan and the United States could break 1 million for the first time by the end of this year, a Tourism Bureau official said Wednesday.

Speaking at a ceremony to mark EVA Airways' maiden flight to Chicago, bureau chief secretary Tsai Ming-ling (蔡明玲) said the increasing services offered by the airline between Taiwan and the U.S. have contributed to the boom.

Tsai said the bureau estimated that there will have been more than 500,000 visits from the U.S. to Taiwan and 600,000 visits from Taiwan to the U.S by the end of 2016.

Bureau data shows that between January and September this year, 368,589 visits were recorded from the U.S to Taiwan, compared with 341,798 in the same period of last year.

On the other hand, 400,851 visits were recorded from Taiwan to the U.S. during the same period, up from 369,989 a year ago.

Tsai said the bureau sent a delegation of travel agents, hoteliers and officials to Chicago in September to promote travel to Taiwan, and will continue with similar efforts in the future.

(By Wang Shu-fen and Lee Hsin-Yin)ENDITEM/J