Taiwan has officially been added to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Global Entry program, offering significant benefits for Hawaii tourism, according to U.S. Sen. Mazie Hirono’s office.

With the inclusion, Taiwanese citizens can apply for expedited customs clearance when visiting the United States, and American citizens can also be extended similar benefits on arrival in Taiwan.

“Taiwan’s inclusion in the Global Entry program further strengthens our ties to the Indo-Asia-Pacific region, and allows Customs and Border Protection (CPB) to direct security resources to where they are most needed,” said Hirono in a statement today. “I appreciate CBP’s work to finalize this program, which will benefit Hawaii’s visitor industry by making it easier for Taiwanese visitors to travel and do business in Hawaii and the United States.”

Hirono, a longtime advocate of expanding the Global Entry to grow Hawaii’s international visitor industry, was instrumental to Taiwan’s inclusion, having led a bipartisan effort to encourage the island’s membership in 2015.

More than 18,000 Taiwanese citizens visited Hawaii in 2016, according to the Hawaii Tourism Authority, which supported Hirono’s effort, along with the Chamber of Commerce Hawaii and Hawaii Lodging and Tourism Association.

Nationally, an estimated 463,000 Taiwanese citizens visited the United States in 2016 and spent $2.2 billion, according to the U.S. Commerce Department, placing Taiwan among the top 20 markets for U.S. travel and tourism exports.

“Hawaii’s tourism industry is grateful that Senator Hirono continues to champion the Hawaiian islands as a premier international travel destination through the Global Entry Program,” said George D. Szigeti, president and CEO of the HTA in a statement. “The senator’s successful efforts to gain approval for Taiwan’s inclusion in this program supports efforts to encourage more of Taiwan’s citizens to book travel to and within the Hawaiian islands.”

Szigeti said last year, travelers from Taiwan generated $4.2 million in state tax revenue and supported 441 jobs. As more of Taiwan’s travelers utilize the program to explore the islands, he said economic benefits would continue to broaden.

Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen recently paid her first visit to Honolulu on Saturday en route to the Marshall Islands and other Pacific islands.

Taiwan joins Canada, South Korea, the Netherlands, Panama, Germany, Singapore, the United Kingdom, Colombia, Switzerland, Argentina, and India as participants in CBP’s Global Entry and other trusted traveler programs.