Record Year for Tourist Visits to Taiwan
Those
of us who are fortunate enough to live in Taiwan already know what a special
place it is. Now, it seems as if the rest of the world is discovering just how amazing Taiwan is. Last year, Taiwan welcomed 10.69 million tourists,
setting a new record for tourist visits in one year.
For some, this
record-year for tourism in Taiwan, which was announced by the Tourism Bureau of Taiwan, came as a surprise. In the
past, Taiwan had seen a rapid increase in the number of
tourists from mainland China. However, in 2016, this number fell steeply. Although 3.51 million
tourists from mainland China did visit Taiwan in 2016, accounting for more than 32 percent of the total number of visitors, the amount of
mainland Chinese tourists in 2016 dropped 16.1 percent from 2015. As a result,
many had anticipated that the overall number
of tourists to Taiwan in 2016 would drop as well.
Industry experts, however, say that the record 10.69 million tourist visits to
Taiwan in 2016, a 2.4 percent increase over 2015, can be attributed to several factors. To begin with, the decision to ease visa restrictions for visitors from
several Southeast Asian countries, including India, Indonesia, Vietnam,
Philippines, and Thailand, was very important. The number of visitors to Taiwan from
Thailand, for instance, skyrocketed by 57 percent in 2016.
Tourists from Northeast
Asian countries were also significant. In 2016, for example,
more than 1.9 million tourists from Japan visited Taiwan, which was 16.5
percent increase from 2015. In addition, 880,000 visitors from South Korea
visited Taiwan in 2016, which was a 34.3 percent increase from the previous year. Tourists from these two countries alone accounted for 26
percent of the total visitors to Taiwan in 2016.
Will the number of mainland Chinese
tourists to Taiwan increase in the future? Experts say it is too difficult to
tell. Many say that the political relationship between Taiwan and mainland
China can affect the tourist industry in Taiwan dramatically. In addition, many mainland Chinese tourists have been
involved in accidents while traveling in Taiwan over the past few years, which may
have caused some in mainland China to have second thoughts about traveling in Taiwan.
Although many Taiwanese businesspeople
who have built new hotels and tourist facilities in Taiwan may be hoping for an increase in the number of
mainland Chinese tourists in 2017, others say that Taiwan would be wise to
continue to attract tourists from other places, including Japan, Korea, and
Southeast Asia, and focus on promoting ecotourism.
Reading
Comprehension
(
) 1. What is the main idea of this article?
(A) The history
of ecotourism in Taiwan.
(B) The future growth and development of tourism in Taiwan.
(C) The most popular destination for mainland Chinese
tourists.
(D) A look back at tourism in Taiwan in 2016.
( ) 2. The word “ease” in the third paragraph is closest in meaning to “________.”
(A) drop (B) tighten (C) limit (D) lift
(
) 3. According to the passage, tourists from
which two countries accounted for 26 percent of the total amount of tourist
visits to Taiwan in 2016?
(A) Thailand and
India.
(B) Mainland
China and South Korea.
(C) Japan and
South Korea.
(D) Japan and Thailand.
( ) 4. Why are some tourists from mainland China having
doubts about visiting Taiwan?
(A) Taiwan has
become too expensive for them to visit.
(B)
There have been several accidents in Taiwan involving tourists from mainland
China.
(C) There
are not enough hotels and tourist facilities in Taiwan for all of these visitors.
(D) The
government of the Republic of China imposed visa restrictions for visitors
from mainland China.
( ) 5. When it comes to the future of tourism in Taiwan, the author suggests
that Taiwan should ________.
(A) build more
five-star hotels (B)
encourage ecotourism
(C) attend
more tourism fairs (D)
create cute mascot for Taiwan
Vocabulary and Phrases
1. amazing [1`mezI9] adj. 令人驚奇的
．The magic show was so amazing
that the audience felt great awe while they were watching.
2. rapid [`r8pId] adj. 快速的，迅速的
．The big city faced the problem
of housing shortage because of rapid
population growth.
3. steeply [stiplI] adv.
(數量變化)急遽地
．Oil prices soared steeply
because a war between the oil-exporting countries broke out.
4. account for [1`ka5nt fOr] phr. (數量上、比例上)佔…
．Lipstick accounts for 70
percent of the cosmetic company’s products.
5. overall [`ov2&Ol]
adj. 全面的，總體的
．We went to Spain on our honeymoon.
The overall cost of the trip was
NT200,000.
6. expert [`Eksp3t] n.
[C] 專家
．As an expert in ornithology (鳥類學), Dr. Lin can name all of the birds in this
forest.
7. attribute [1`trIbj5t] vt. 歸功於，歸因於
．The Oscar winner attributed her
success to the support from her parents.
8. restriction [rI`strIkS1n] n.
[C] 限制
．The totalitarian (極權主義的) government has placed restrictions on all political activities.
9. skyrocket [`skaI&rAkIt] vi. 飛漲，猛漲
．The land skyrocketed in value due to the development
of the industrial area.
10. significant [sIG`nIf1k1nt] adj.
重大的，顯著的
．There has been a significant change in Mr. Wang’s
attitude toward life since his wife passed away.
11. previous [`privI1s] adj. (時間上)稍前的
．It is sunny today, but it rained heavily the previous day.
12. dramatically [dr1`m8tIkLlI] adj.
戲劇性地，誇張地
．The couple’s life changes dramatically when they have a baby.
They aren’t ready for it.
13. have second thoughts [`h8v `sEk1nd
TOts] phr. (經考慮後)改變主意
．At first, Amber wanted
to be a teacher as her parents wished. However, after she had second thoughts, she made up her mind to be a nurse.
14. facility [f1`sIl1tI] n. [C] 設施，設備
．The new hospital provides its patients with the best treatment facilities.
15. promote [pr1`mot] vt. 促銷，宣傳
．The green shopping campaign is
designed to promote the purchase of
local products.
Words for
Recognition
1. the
Tourism Bureau of Taiwan [D1 `t5rIz1m `bj5ro Ov taI`wan] n.
臺灣觀光局
臺灣觀光事務的最高執掌機關，隸屬於交通部之下。除了負責規劃、執行與管理觀光旅遊事務外，也負責對外推廣臺灣觀光的工作。
2. mainland China [`menl1nd `tSaIn1] n. 中國大陸
3. visa [`viz1] n. (護照的)簽證
4. Thailand [`taIl1nd] n. 泰國
5. ecotourism [&iko`t5rIz1m] n. 生態旅遊
生態旅遊是一種顧及環境保育，並同時維護地方住民福利的旅遊方式，具有生態觀念、增進生態保育的觀光行為。
Translation
來臺旅客創新高的一年
我們這些有幸住在臺灣的人，已經知道這是一個多麼特別的地方。如今，世界上其他地區的人們似乎也發現臺灣真是令人讚嘆。去年來臺的旅客人數多達1069萬人次，創下了歷年新紀錄。
臺灣觀光局公布去年來臺旅客人數創新高，對某些人來說，是個意外的驚喜。過去，來臺旅遊的陸客人數持續快速增加。然而，2016年陸客人數銳減。去年雖然有351萬人次的陸客造訪臺灣，佔整體旅客數逾32%，但陸客人數卻比2015年減少16.1%。因此，許多人原以為來臺旅客的總人數也會減少。
但產業專家表示，2016年來臺旅客創下1069萬人次的紀錄，比2015年增加2.4%，可歸因於幾項因素。首先，針對印度、印尼、越南、菲律賓和泰國等東南亞國家的旅客放寬簽證限制的決定，這是非常重要的。例如從泰國來臺的旅客在2016年就暴增了57%。
同樣地，來自東北亞國家的旅客也很多。例如，2016年，訪臺的日本旅客就超過190萬人次，比起2015年增加16.5%。此外，來臺的南韓旅客達88萬人次，較前一年成長了34.3%。光是這兩個國家的旅客，就佔2016年來臺旅客總數的26%。
來臺陸客人數未來會不會增加呢？專家表示很難說。許多人認為臺灣和中國大陸之間的政治關係可能對臺灣觀光業造成嚴重衝擊。此外，過去幾年，許多陸客在臺旅遊時碰上意外，這可能導致部分陸客重新考慮來臺旅遊一事。
雖然許多已蓋好新旅館和觀光設施的臺灣業界人士可能希望，陸客人數在2017年能夠回升，但其他人主張，聰明的作法是臺灣應持續吸引來自其他地方的旅客，包括日本、韓國和東南亞，並且專注於提升生態旅遊。
閱讀測驗解答：1. D 2. D 3. C 4. B 5. B
沒有留言:
張貼留言