Page 91 - 2019 Annual Report Council of Agriculture, Executive Yuan

A recreational fishing boat carries tourists on a whale-watching excursion.
foreign media about rural tourism in Taiwan, and such tourism was incorporated into 535 tours offered by foreign tourist agencies.
In 2019 there were about 27.8 million journeys by tourists to rural leisure and travel destinations, of which 717,000 were foreign tourists, creating production value of NT$10.9 billion and driving "local production, local consumption," attracting people back to rural areas for jobs, and promoting sustainable development of rural areas.
(2) Fisheries-related tourism
The COA held 50 promotional activities for fisheries industry culture and recreational fishing. Based on historical documents, on- site visits to fishing harbors, and interviews with fishing businesses and tourists, we created an integrated platform for Internet information about recreational fishing, providing domestic and foreign tourists with information about
Tourists experiencing the "Rural Kitchen" travel itineraries can taste the freshness and delicious flavor of rural communities, as well as feel their warmth, friendliness and local character.
Enjoying the scenery of the daylily flowering season on Liushishi Mountain, experiencing the pleasure of traveling in eastern Taiwan.
Annual Report 2019 Council of Agriculture, Executive Yuan
marine eco-tourism, recreational fishing vessels, locations of recreational fishing activities, relevant laws and regulations, and marine meteorology. We also created fishing community tours that integrate the local ecology and special local scenery in order to deepen the fisheries-related tourism experience. Surveys showed that in 2019 there were a total of about 11,001,300 participants in coastal fisheries recreation and eco-travel, creating about NT$3.649 billion in production value.
(3) Forest eco-tourism
In 2019 the COA strengthened the maintenance of facilities and equipment at forest recreational venues, and also upgraded the quality of visits to the nation’s 18 National Forest Recreation Areas, three Forest Parks, and four Forestry Culture Parks. We encouraged citizens to get in contact with nature to improve their health, and in 2019 there were over 8.28 million visits to forests. Moreover, forest recreation sites continued to cooperate with mountain villages and indigenous communities, and linked up with the network of nature hiking trails, to come up with variously themed activities more than 203 times, creating over NT$11.68 million in production value.
The Alishan Forest Railway and Cultural Heritage Office, part of the COA’s Forestry Bureau, continued to come up with variously themed railway itineraries and sister railway ticket reciprocity activities, attracting tourists from home and abroad; the railway carried 1.23 million passengers in 2019. Moreover, in order to broaden domestic perspectives on promoting railway operations and preserving cultural heritage, the Forestry Bureau and the Ministry of Culture’s Bureau of Cultural Heritage jointly held the "2nd Forum on Asian Industrial Heritage Conservation," inviting 26 experts and scholars from nine countries to come to Taiwan and share their experiences in operational maintenance, management, and marketing of railways, as well as in industrial heritage conservation.
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