On 29 January, Representative Lin presented UK Prime Minister’s Trade Envoy to Taiwan, Lord Faulkner of Worcester, with the Award for Special Contribution to Taiwan Tourism on behalf of the Tourism Bureau of the Transportation Ministry of Taiwan. Lord Faulkner was awarded the distinction for his significant contributions to tourism, cultural exchanges and heritage preservation between Taiwan and the UK. As Lord Faulkner was unable to attend the Taiwan Tourism Festival Award Ceremony held on 7 February in Taipei, a special ceremony was held at the TRO’s London office. The event was attended by UK officials from the Department for International Trade as well as representatives from London’s diplomatic corps, including Ambassador of Honduras H.E. Ivan Romero-Martinez and Ambassador of Nicaragua H.E.Guisell Morales-Echaverry. In addition, former UK Representative to Taiwan Michael Reilly, former Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) Director-General Michael Clarke and representatives from Taiwan’s China Airlines and Eva Airlines were in attendance.
In his opening remarks, Representative Lin highlighted growing tourism exchanges with the number of tourists visiting Taiwan in 2019 reaching a record high of 11.86 million. Representative Lin also pointed out increasing bilateral tourism, citing that the number of Taiwanese tourists visiting the UK from 2016 to 2018 increased by 70%. He praised Lord Faulkner’s contributions to increasing tourism to Taiwan, expressing gratefulness for the UK parliamentarian forming several delegations to promote the Alishan Forest Railway and Taiwan Railway Tourism, as well as his role in establishing the successful partnership between Alishan Forest Railway and the British Welshpool & Llanfair Light Railway (WLLR). “With your staunch support in facilitating bilateral cooperation, I believe our relations will continue to thrive and grow in the years ahead,” Representative Lin concluded.
