Tourism industry is placing its hope in upcoming travel fair

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 (台灣觀光協會), is slated to kick off at the Taipei World Trade Center Exhibition Hall from Nov. 15 to Nov. 18.

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 (嚴長壽), one of the top hoteliers in Taiwan and chairman emeritus of the Taiwan Visitors Association.

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 (郭富城) to speak for the territory's popular attractions in person during the event.

Su Cheng-tien (蘇成田), director general of the Tourism Bureau under the Ministry of Transportation and Communications, said the bureau will also exhibit a booth at the fair to promote Taiwan's travel sector.

"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.