Until now, the spread of skiing as a sport in Taiwan has been promoted largely through word of mouth, with Yang saying that almost half of their tours are packed with return customers. For companies such as Sunhi Tour (尚海旅行社), a small operation based in Ilan that specializes in customized travel packages, the return rate for ski trips is as high as 80 percent, according to owner Lei Chen-chou (雷震州).
Lei, a longtime tour leader, said that these groups are unique in Taiwan's tourist industry. "In most tour groups, when the trip is over, everyone goes their own way. The hardships endured as people learn to ski, and the help and support they give each other during the trip often develop into more enduring friendships," he said.
Lei attributes the fact that ski packages have been restricted to a tiny minority of agencies such as Naruwan and Sunhi to the dependence on a base of dedicated skiers who return every year.
Cheng hopes to change this and make skiing a mainstream holiday option for Taiwanese people. "Two of Taiwan's largest travel agencies have agreed to include our ski packages in their marketing channels," Cheng said, referring to Cola Tour (可樂旅遊) and Lion Travel (雄獅旅遊). "Big travel agencies such as Lion and Cola are able to offer facilities such as payment by installments, something that we cannot do," Cheng said. He expects this marketing push to begin by the end of February. He also said that plans are afoot to add English pages to the CTSA's Web site to allow foreign residents to participate in Taiwan's slowly developing ski tourism industry.
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