Gov't offers tourism sector loan of NT$30 bil. TAIPEI--The Executive Yuan has approved a plan to extend NT$30 billion (US$955 million) in loans to the local tourism sector which has felt the pinch of the precipitous fall in the number of Chinese visitors in recent months. Since the pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party government took office in May, there has been a 30-percent decline year-on-year in the number of Chinese tourists taking part in group tours to Taiwan amid cooling cross-strait ties. Chinese visitor number was down 15.03 percent year-on-year in July, after falling about 12 percent in May and June. According to the Hotel Association of the Republic of China (Taiwan), the hotel occupancy rate has dropped by 50 percent recently, with those in central, southern and eastern Taiwan the hardest-hit in the wake of the drop in Chinese tourists.

Source: The China Post September 09, 2016 18:00 UTC