Taipei 101 cuts observation deck admission for local residents

Taipei, Oct. 10 (CNA) The price for Taiwanese and foreign residents in Taiwan to visit the observation deck on the 89th floor of Taipei 101 has been dropped to NT$101 (US$3.27) from NT$600, a special offer that will continue until the end of the year, an official of the building management staff announced Wednesday.

The new policy, effective from Thursday, will be effective until Dec. 30, according to Elva Huang (黃瓊萱), who is in charge of tourism and marketing at Taipei 101.

The price is the lowest since the observation deck began to operate 15 years ago, but is only valid from 9 a.m. to noon, Huang said.

The new discount is aimed at luring more local visitors, as Taiwan's tallest building has experienced a decline in Chinese tourist numbers after China banned independent Chinese travelers from visiting Taiwan in August, Huang told CNA.

The number of Chinese visitors to Taipei 101 plummeted from more than 90,000 to some 40,000 in September, Huang said.

This could impact the revenue of Taipei 101, because Chinese visitors accounted for 38 percent of all the visitors to the observation deck during the past three quarters of this year, she said.