TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The plan to pay foreign tourists arriving in Taiwan NT$5,000 (US$164) will be implemented on April 15, the Tourism Bureau said on Friday (March 17).

The project was approved earlier this year as part of an effort to attract six million visitors to the country during 2023. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, 11 million tourists arrived in Taiwan per year.

The first millionth visitor is now expected to arrive in late March. The original estimate had been that 800,000 visitors would have entered Taiwan by then, according to Tourism Bureau Deputy Director-General Lin Hsin-jen (林信任).

The bureau is still working out the details of the program, which gives independent travelers the opportunity to receive an electronic card storing NT$5,000 after they arrive in Taiwan, CNA reported. Tour groups with at least eight members could receive NT$10,000, those with 15 members or more a maximum of NT$20,000, with a total of 90,000 groups qualifying for the subsidies.