A miniature version of Taipei 101 is to be built in a Japanese park that exhibits world-famous architecture and relics later this year, as part of Taiwan’s latest efforts to promote tourism, Taiwanese and Japanese representatives said yesterday.
Taipei 101 is to join other landmarks, including the Empire State Building and the Eiffel Tower, in Tobu World Square, a renowned tourist spot in eastern Japan, Tourism Bureau Chief Secretary Tsai Ming-ling (蔡明玲) said.
Standing about 20m tall, the miniature is expected to stimulate the curiosity of tourists visiting the park and motivate them to travel to Taiwan to see the real thing, Tsai said.
Photo: CNA
“The skyscraper represents not only Taipei, but Taiwan,” Japan’s Interchange Association Taipei Office Chief Representative Mikio Numata said. “Hopefully, the display will contribute to Taiwan’s tourism.”
The park, established in 1993, currently hosts 102 miniatures. Taipei 101 is to become the tallest building in the park when it is completed and put on display on Oct. 4.
According to the bureau, the number of Japanese visitors to Taiwan rose 14 percent last year to 1.63 million, accounting for 16 percent of the record 9.9 million overseas visitor arrivals in the nation. Japan was Taiwan’s second-largest source of foreign tourists, trailing only China, which sent nearly 4 million visitors to Taiwan.
Despite the depreciation of the yen, which has discouraged Japanese from overseas travel in general, tourism exchanges between the two sides should continue to thrive this year thanks to increasing bilateral ties, the bureau said.
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