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Tourism officials eye old, young travelers

With the aim of luring 5 million foreign visitors in 2008, the Tourism Bureau is prepared to explore two previously untapped niche markets.

In addition to tour groups, which usually stay from seven to 10 days, the bureau has its eyes on retired Japanese and young backpackers, whose longer trips are expected to create greater economic effects across the board.

One of the Tourism Bureau's main projects for next year is a long-stay program targeting elderly Japanese. This program has attracted keen interest from local governments, including Puli Township (埔里) in Nantou County, Hualien and Taitung counties, and Kaohsiung County's Liukui Township (六龜), the bureau said.

"We hope to attract more retired Japanese, who have more spare cash to spend, to live in Taiwan's apartments or hostels for a month or more. Because their family members are bound to visit them, the clustering effects should be tremendous," said bureau Director-General Hsu Wen-sheng (許文聖) on the sidelines of a press conference yesterday to welcome the nation's 3-millionth tourist.

Last year, 2.95 million foreign tourists visited the nation, with those from Japan, Hong Kong and Macau, and the US taking the top three places.

Proud of its mild weather, fresh air and wine, Puli Township took the initiative to contact the bureau, hoping to win the right to host the Japanese.

Teiminkou Cheng (鄭敏紅), the Japanese-savvy chief of Puli's long-stay program, said Japan's long-stay tour foundation and its largest travel agency, JTV, have conducted inspections in the township and found it suitable for the elderly to stay for a month.

"As more than 500 Puli locals aged 70 and over and some doctors in the two big hospitals speak Japanese, there would not be any problems with communication. We're also known for our hospitality," Cheng told the Taipei Times in a telephone interview yesterday.

Given that monthly pensions for retired Japanese average more than ?150,000 (US$1,265), Cheng expressed optimism that the elderly visitors could spend around NT$50,000 (US$1,490), benefiting not just the tourism sector but local businesses, including supermarkets and mom-and-pop shops.

The township government expects to host the first "experiencing" group next month and hopes to attract more after TV footage of the first group is aired in Japan.

Meanwhile, the bureau is serious about going after the young backpacker market as well.

Hsu said now the bureau's main task is to create a backpacker-friendly environment by adding English translations to road signs, offering cheaper transportation options and improving the quality of hostels.

Next year has been designated as Taiwan Youth Travel Year and the bureau has several campaigns prepared to publicize the program.

Steven Kuo Su (郭蘇燦洋), the bureau's deputy director-general, said earlier this month that the government wants to attract 1.25 million young travelers in 2008, or one-fourth of the total inbound tourists that year.
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