Taiwan is spending big to pull tourists back in, good news for foreign travelers who have visited before and for the island's hotels and shops.

• Starting in October, weekly lotteries will hand repeat foreign visitors NT$5,000 (about US$156) in spending credits, with an extra NT$3,000 for a travel companion.
• The credits are picked up at 7-Eleven and loaded onto local transit and payment cards, so the money flows straight to Taiwanese merchants.
• Companies bringing reward trips get extra cash per person per night, but only if they stay in central and southern Taiwan, the east coast, or the outlying islands — a push to spread visitors beyond Taipei.
• Taiwanese citizens get their own perks: weekday hotel subsidies, birthday lodging vouchers, discounted rail passes, and money for company staff trips.
• The whole package costs about NT$3.33 billion and cleared the legislature on Aug. 14.

Outlook: Registration opens Oct. 1 and the incentives run through March 2027, so expect a visible bump in bookings over the winter travel season.