With Taiwan expecting a 26 percent drop in inbound travel this year due to impact of the SARS outbreak in the second quarter, next week's Taipei International Travel Fair has been viewed as a life-saver for an industry desperate to lure back customers.
The 2003 Taipei International Travel Fair, organized by the Taiwan Visitors Association (
The fair has attracted 400 exhibitors from more than 50 countries and regions around the world. They will cover 538 booths, providing special promotions, the organizer said yesterday at a press conference.
"Taipei International Travel Fair is Asia's second-largest travel exhibition, after Japan's travel fair," said Stanley Yen (
But the travel fair is mainly aimed at attracting Taiwanese tourists, Yen said, with hotels and travel agents expecting to offer coupons on accommodations and quality tour packages at highly-competitive prices, respectively, to attract buyers at the four-day show.
Some 85,000 people visited the travel fair last year and the number is expected to grow this year following the recovery in Taiwan's economy, he added. Yen declined to give a specific number on total visitors for the show this year.
There will also be 1,750 representatives and 260 buyers invited from 17 countries throughout Europe, the Americas and the Asia-Pacific region, said association CEO Shao Chung-hwa (邵仲華).
Japan will remain the largest participating country with 54 booths, while Hong Kong will feature pop idol Aaron Kwok (
Su Cheng-tien (
"We hope to attract up to 3 million foreign visitors to Taiwan next year," he said.
Due to the SARS impact, Tourism Bureau had revised downward the estimated inbound market this year from 3 million visitors to 2.2 million visitors.
To boost the tourism for independent visitors, the bureau is planning to provide service of multi-purposed 24-hour hotlines in three languages -- Mandarin, English and Japanese -- for independent visitors to Taiwan, he added.
Su also mentioned the Taiwan-Australia working holidaymaker scheme, on which the two sides have reached agreement, is expected to benefit the exchange of independent visitors to both countries.
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