TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Tourism Bureau will be upgraded to a Tourism Agency from Sept. 15, with a former bureau chief as its first director-general, reports said Wednesday (Sept. 6).

Earlier this year, the Council of Agriculture and the Environmental Protection Administration changed their names to the Ministry of Agriculture and Ministry of Environment, respectively. The new Tourism Agency will remain under the supervision of the Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC).

The first chief of the agency will be Chou Yung-hui (周永暉), who headed the Tourism Bureau from 2016 to 2020, Radio Taiwan International (RTI) reported. His main task will be to help the country achieve its target of 6 million visitors this year, compared to 11 million before the COVID-19 pandemic.

The MOTC expressed confidence in Chou’s ability to reach the aim and to work toward 12 million visitors in 2024. The tourism official has a background with another MOTC department, the Taiwan Railways Administration (TRA), where he spent the better part of his career.