Penghu says no tourism fee to be levied this year
By Shelley Shan / Staff reporter
Tourists to Penghu County would not be charged fees when they visit this year, the Penghu Tourism Department said yesterday.
Some Penghu residents have proposed a travel tax or a fee for visitors from Taiwan proper, warning that tourism has exceeded capacity in the past few years.
Department data show that visitor numbers to Penghu in July last year rose by 37 percent from the same month in 2019.
Mascots and Penghu National Scenic Area Administration personnel attend a news conference in Taipei yesterday to promote a Penghu County festival.
2021/03/08 15:47 (CNA photo) TAIPEI (Taiwan News) The arrival of the cruise ship Explorer Dream off the coast of Penghu’s Magong City on Monday (March 8) signaled the beginning of this year s tourism season for the archipelago. Penghu is an outlying island county of Taiwan in the middle of the Taiwan Strait. In addition to the island-hopping itinerary of the Explorer Dream, the passenger ship Natchan Rera is expected to begin services between Tainan s Anping Harbor and Penghu on March 19. Meanwhile, nine passenger ships operated by Pescadores Ferry Co. and All-Star Shipping Industry Co. will also begin plying the popular Budai–Penghu route near the end of March, CNA reported.
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Mermaid lantern to return
An award-winning giant mermaid-themed lantern featured in last year’s Penghu International Bay Light Festival is to be reintroduced in the Penghu International Fireworks Festival on Penghu County’s Jibei Islet (吉貝嶼) on June 5. The 8m lantern would be the festival’s main highlight and illumiate the islet’s pristine beaches, the Penghu Tourism Department said. It was first showcased in last year’s light festival from Sept. 19 to Nov. 7 and later won a prize in the MUSE Creative Awards organized by the New York-based International Awards Associates. The fireworks festival is to be centered around Magong (馬公) from April 22 to June 28.