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.
In late October of 1873 the government of Japan decided against sending a military expedition to Korea to force that nation to open trade relations. Across the government supporters of the expedition resigned immediately. The spectacle of revolt by disaffected samurai began to loom over Japanese politics. In January of 1874 disaffected samurai attacked a senior minister in Tokyo. A month later, a group of pro-Korea expedition and anti-foreign elements from Saga prefecture in Kyushu revolted, driven in part by high food prices stemming from poor harvests. Their leader, according to Edward Drea’s classic Japan’s Imperial Army, was a samurai
The following three paragraphs are just some of what the local Chinese-language press is reporting on breathlessly and following every twist and turn with the eagerness of a soap opera fan. For many English-language readers, it probably comes across as incomprehensibly opaque, so bear with me briefly dear reader: To the surprise of many, former pop singer and Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) ex-lawmaker Yu Tien (余天) of the Taiwan Normal Country Promotion Association (TNCPA) at the last minute dropped out of the running for committee chair of the DPP’s New Taipei City chapter, paving the way for DPP legislator Su
It’s hard to know where to begin with Mark Tovell’s Taiwan: Roads Above the Clouds. Having published a travelogue myself, as well as having contributed to several guidebooks, at first glance Tovell’s book appears to inhabit a middle ground — the kind of hard-to-sell nowheresville publishers detest. Leaf through the pages and you’ll find them suffuse with the purple prose best associated with travel literature: “When the sun is low on a warm, clear morning, and with the heat already rising, we stand at the riverside bike path leading south from Sanxia’s old cobble streets.” Hardly the stuff of your
Located down a sideroad in old Wanhua District (萬華區), Waley Art (水谷藝術) has an established reputation for curating some of the more provocative indie art exhibitions in Taipei. And this month is no exception. Beyond the innocuous facade of a shophouse, the full three stories of the gallery space (including the basement) have been taken over by photographs, installation videos and abstract images courtesy of two creatives who hail from the opposite ends of the earth, Taiwan’s Hsu Yi-ting (許懿婷) and Germany’s Benjamin Janzen. “In 2019, I had an art residency in Europe,” Hsu says. “I met Benjamin in the lobby