Taking Helm of Tourist Hotel Association Again, Lai Cheng-i Aims to Expand Taiwan Tourism
Lai Cheng-i, re-elected as chairman of the national Tourist Hotel Association, urged the government to enhance infrastructure and resume cross-strait tourism to reach a goal of 20 million visitors to Taiwan within three years.
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- 📰 Published: April 23, 2026 at 19:56
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(Central News Agency reporter Chiang Ming-yen, Taipei, 23rd) Lai Cheng-i once again takes the helm as Chairman of the national Tourist Hotel Association. He stated that he will join hands with tourism-related associations to speak out for Taiwan's tourism industry, including advocating for the government to strengthen tourism hardware infrastructure and resume cross-strait open tourism. "Only by making Taiwan's tourism pie bigger can we achieve the goal of surpassing 20 million visitors to Taiwan within three years."
The Tourist Hotel Association of the Republic of China held its 7th general assembly today, and Lai Cheng-i, Honorary Chairman of the General Chamber of Commerce of the R.O.C., was elected chairman. Lai previously served as the 3rd and 4th chairman of the association in 2013 and 2016.
Lai Cheng-i said Taiwan's tourism industry has been struggling for 8 or 9 years. He proposed six major recommendations, noting that the government should first focus on tourism transformation and strengthening hardware to boost industrial strength before earning more tourism revenue. Meanwhile, cross-strait tourism must resume as soon as possible. Not only will the flow of people and money increase, but the demand for flights and transportation will also rise. Only with peaceful and stable cross-strait development will tourists from other countries see that traveling to Taiwan is safe, making them more confident to visit.
Lai noted that employment in the domestic accommodation sector exceeds 210,000 people, with total revenue surpassing NT$125 billion last year. If upstream and downstream workers like tour bus operators, airline staff, gift shop workers, food and beverage operators, night market vendors, and taxi drivers are included, the total number of tourism-related workers is over 2 million, accounting for one-sixth of Taiwan's 12 million total workforce. Roughly estimating, the overall tourism industry value accounts for about 5% of GDP. He hopes the Taiwan tourism pie will grow larger to increase foreign exchange earnings and tax revenue.
He pointed out that after the pandemic, tourism in various countries recovered quickly. Japan exceeded 40 million visitors last year, but Taiwan is still stagnating, with only 8.57 million visitors last year, and the tourism deficit worsening year by year. To accelerate the return of inbound tourists to 12 million and rapidly increase it to 20 million within the next three years, he suggested the primary task is to promptly open cross-strait tourism exchanges, returning to the previous peak of direct flights between 71 cities, 890 flights per week, and 4.5 million Chinese tourists visiting Taiwan annually.
Taking charge of the association again, he said that besides continuing to promote relevant affairs and fight for member rights, he will continue to operate 10 professional committees. This includes establishing a think tank to deeply study bottlenecks encountered by tourist hotel members and related supply chains, holding regular meetings to exchange ideas, and conducting special studies through academic institutions to formulate policies, thereby increasing interaction with the government and providing timely recommendations. (Editor: Chang Liang-chih) 1150423
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The Tourist Hotel Association of the Republic of China held its 7th general assembly today, and Lai Cheng-i, Honorary Chairman of the General Chamber of Commerce of the R.O.C., was elected chairman. Lai previously served as the 3rd and 4th chairman of the association in 2013 and 2016.
Lai Cheng-i said Taiwan's tourism industry has been struggling for 8 or 9 years. He proposed six major recommendations, noting that the government should first focus on tourism transformation and strengthening hardware to boost industrial strength before earning more tourism revenue. Meanwhile, cross-strait tourism must resume as soon as possible. Not only will the flow of people and money increase, but the demand for flights and transportation will also rise. Only with peaceful and stable cross-strait development will tourists from other countries see that traveling to Taiwan is safe, making them more confident to visit.
Lai noted that employment in the domestic accommodation sector exceeds 210,000 people, with total revenue surpassing NT$125 billion last year. If upstream and downstream workers like tour bus operators, airline staff, gift shop workers, food and beverage operators, night market vendors, and taxi drivers are included, the total number of tourism-related workers is over 2 million, accounting for one-sixth of Taiwan's 12 million total workforce. Roughly estimating, the overall tourism industry value accounts for about 5% of GDP. He hopes the Taiwan tourism pie will grow larger to increase foreign exchange earnings and tax revenue.
He pointed out that after the pandemic, tourism in various countries recovered quickly. Japan exceeded 40 million visitors last year, but Taiwan is still stagnating, with only 8.57 million visitors last year, and the tourism deficit worsening year by year. To accelerate the return of inbound tourists to 12 million and rapidly increase it to 20 million within the next three years, he suggested the primary task is to promptly open cross-strait tourism exchanges, returning to the previous peak of direct flights between 71 cities, 890 flights per week, and 4.5 million Chinese tourists visiting Taiwan annually.
Taking charge of the association again, he said that besides continuing to promote relevant affairs and fight for member rights, he will continue to operate 10 professional committees. This includes establishing a think tank to deeply study bottlenecks encountered by tourist hotel members and related supply chains, holding regular meetings to exchange ideas, and conducting special studies through academic institutions to formulate policies, thereby increasing interaction with the government and providing timely recommendations. (Editor: Chang Liang-chih) 1150423
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The text, images, and audio/video on this website may not be reproduced, publicly broadcast, or publicly transmitted and used without authorization.