Taiwanese foot massages bring in the tourists

Taiwanese "foot massages" are all the rage with Japanese and Korean tourists. Last year, about 400,000 tourists received the treatment while visiting.

Hoping to turn Taiwan into a "health tourism" hot spot, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications Tourism Bureau plans to invite 1,000 masseurs and masseuses to serve 1,000 tourists at National Taiwan University's NTU Sports Center in late June or early July.

The bureau plans to apply to the Guinness Book of World Records for the event as it believes it can help increase Taiwan's international visibility.

Lee Chun-lin (李春霖), vice general manager of Bobby Travel Service Co (保保旅行社), said half of the 800,000 Japanese and Korean tourists who visited Taiwan last year received foot massages. The basic charge for a 30 minute session is about NT$700 (US$22). All told, they spent at least NT$280 million on the treatment.

Liu Hsi-lin (劉喜臨), director of the bureau's International Affairs Division, also confirmed that in addition to Japanese and Korean tourists, tourists from other countries were also interested in getting foot massages. He said that the standard of such treatment in Taiwan is higher compared with China or other Asian countries. Since it is considered "non-invasive" therapy, people of different ages, sex and nationalities can enjoy it. As the government has in recent years actively begun to promote "health tourism," the bureau hopes to attract more tourists through the large-scale event.

Liu said that the NTU Sports Center in downtown Taipei is a perfect location for the event. The bureau had previously held two concerts by F4, a popular Taiwanese boy group, at the center to attract foreign fans to come last year. He said that the bureau would invite 1,000 practitioners from the Chinese Foot Reflexology Association (中華足健協會).

Kuo Cheng-deng (郭正典), director of the Department of Medical Research and Education at Taipei Veterans General Hospital, said a foot massage can activate parasympathetic nerves, helping people relax and release their pressure, which is the source of various diseases -- especially cardiovascular diseases.

But Kuo said that both poor management and licensing could hinder the business from further development. He encouraged the Cabinet's Department of Health to implement a licensing system.

Kuo also said that people should get over the notion of "no pain, no gain" when it comes to massage. He said that practitioners should not scare their customers away or cause them discomfort.