Taiwan does not see as many tourists as its Asian neighbors, but more Taiwanese visit neighboring countries than visitors from any other Asian nation. One in three Taiwanese travels abroad every year and this high number of outbound travelers has a reciprocal effect on the amount of prospective visitors to Taiwan, said Tourism Bureau Director-General Su Cheng-tien (蘇成田).
"We encourage those who go abroad to have contact with locals and share the beauty and culture of Taiwan. We realize it is not always easy to talk about our culture because of the language barrier, but it can be made easier with pictures or brochures. We are continually working on ways to get people to be ambassadors for Taiwan, as a form of self-promotion," he said.
PHOTO: TAIPEI TIMES
Dubbed "2004 Visit Taiwan Year," the bureau originally set a target of 3.2 million visitors to the country this year. As of Oct. 31 the total was approximately 2.4 million. It's unlikely the total will exceed 3 million.
PHOTO: TAIPEI TIMES
Su however, views the figures as more of a challenge than a defeat. "We are still learning, so we use trial and error to determine the best way to promote tourism. One thing we realized is the need to explore advertising as well as cooperating with more foreign tourist industries."
This is the logic behind the annual Taipei International Travel Fair (ITF,
A collaboration between the Ministry of Transportation, the Tourism Bureau and the Taiwan Visitors Association (TVA), the four-day event offers travel resources from more than 700 booths and is expected to lure some 100,000 spectators, said Kitty Wong (
This year the fair will see a number of first time exhibitors who without needing an invitation made the choice to participate on their own, Wong said. "Taiwan has a steadily increasing number of people traveling overseas and these countries are seeing the potential of a very strong market here. Italy, Egypt, Slovakia, Mexico and Argentina are all new participating countries at this year's event.
As in previous years, the main target is local tourism, with 65 percent of the exhibitors focused on travel within Taiwan. It is expected however, that local participants will seize the opportunity to engage in dialogue with international buyers. Wong expressed specific concern for making local tours more appealing to the international market.
"A few local governments know how to promote their places of interest, yet most of the tours only target locals, so overseas visitors would not be able to join because of the language difficulties," Wong said.
"When the TVA attends local and county tourism conferences we always recommend they consider a wider market when designing tour packages."
In addition to the international community, organizers also want to attract the more budget conscious travelers.
Su said the inclusion of student travel associations and budget accommodation is to appeal to the younger generation [under 30 years of age]. Although students spend less money while traveling they tend to go abroad more often and stay for longer periods of time, he said. They account for 20 percent of the people who travel overseas.
"If we want to promote our country then we need to also focus on the youth, because traveling can have a lasting effect on their future and they are also the ones who will be traveling in years to come," Su said.
The exhibition hall is divided into five main areas: one each showcasing tourism in Taiwan, the Asia Pacific and three continents (namely Europe, the Americas and Africa); and two offering information on low-cost travel and resorts/hotels packages.
The Taipei City Government is also running a large pavilion highlighting the city's architecture, cuisine and sightseeing spots, in celebration of its 120th anniversary.
Masses of promotional material will be supplemented with various stage performances from Asian and African countries, along with chances to win free trips.
Where to go:
The Taipei International Travel Fair
Where: The Taipei World Trade Center Exhibition Hall, at 5, Xinyi Rd, Sec 5, Taipei (
When: It begins today for members of the tourism industry only, but will open tomorrow to the general public. The exhibition runs from 10am until 6pm daily.
Cost: NT$200.
Last week Joseph Nye, the well-known China scholar, wrote on the Australian Strategic Policy Institute’s website about how war over Taiwan might be averted. He noted that years ago he was on a team that met with then-president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), “whose previous ‘unofficial’ visit to the US had caused a crisis in which China fired missiles into the sea and the US deployed carriers off the coast of Taiwan.” Yes, that’s right, mighty Chen caused that crisis all by himself. Neither the US nor the People’s Republic of China (PRC) exercised any agency. Nye then nostalgically invoked the comical specter
Relations between Taiwan and the Czech Republic have flourished in recent years. However, not everyone is pleased about the growing friendship between the two countries. Last month, an incident involving a Chinese diplomat tailing the car of vice president-elect Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) in Prague, drew public attention to the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) operations to undermine Taiwan overseas. The trip was not Hsiao’s first visit to the Central European country. It was meant to be low-key, a chance to meet with local academics and politicians, until her police escort noticed a car was tailing her through the Czech capital. The
April 15 to April 21 Yang Kui (楊逵) was horrified as he drove past trucks, oxcarts and trolleys loaded with coffins on his way to Tuntzechiao (屯子腳), which he heard had been completely destroyed. The friend he came to check on was safe, but most residents were suffering in the town hit the hardest by the 7.1-magnitude Hsinchu-Taichung Earthquake on April 21, 1935. It remains the deadliest in Taiwan’s recorded history, claiming around 3,300 lives and injuring nearly 12,000. The disaster completely flattened roughly 18,000 houses and damaged countless more. The social activist and
Over the course of former President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) 11-day trip to China that included a meeting with Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leader Xi Jinping (習近平) a surprising number of people commented that the former president was now “irrelevant.” Upon reflection, it became apparent that these comments were coming from pro-Taiwan, pan-green supporters and they were expressing what they hoped was the case, rather than the reality. Ma’s ideology is so pro-China (read: deep blue) and controversial that many in his own Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) hope he retires quickly, or at least refrains from speaking on some subjects. Regardless