TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taipei City Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) will begin his final month in office with a three-day visit to Okinawa to promote tourism, reports said Tuesday (Nov. 29).

Ko was first elected in 2014, but due to term limits, he will finish his second and final term on Dec. 25. Former Kuomintang (KMT) legislator Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) will succeed him that day, following his victory in Saturday’s election, when he defeated both Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) candidate Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) and the candidate Ko backed, independent Huang Shan-shan (黃珊珊).

Despite the end of his tenure approaching, Ko will travel to Japan for a Dec. 1-3 stay in Okinawa, the Liberty Times reported. Apart from tourism, Taipei City will also promote its EasyCard, as more than 2,000 shops in Japan’s Ryukyu Islands have been accepting payments with the card since Nov. 7.

Taiwan opened its borders to international tourism on Oct. 13, ending the mandatory three-day quarantine for arrivals from overseas. As a result, interest in outbound and inbound tourism has increased significantly.

Ko wants to attract more Japanese tourists to visit Taipei, while also promoting the use of the EasyCard by Taiwanese visitors to Okinawa. Payments with the card are subtracted directly in New Taiwan dollars without any extra fees, city officials said.