The government is mulling new initiatives to combat the decline in the number of Japanese tourists visiting the nation.
The falling numbers of visitors has likely been caused by an economic slowdown and the depreciation of the yen, which have dampened the Japanese appetite for international travel, not just to Taiwan, the Tourism Bureau said.
The bureau said it is using star-studded advertising campaigns to woo Japanese tourists.
Photo: Courtesy TransAsia Airways
The bureau has sponsored a television advertisement that features Japanese actor Takuya Kimura, while Taiwanese actor and singer Calvin Chen (辰亦儒) has been employed to appear as a spokesperson for Taiwanese tourism at the Japan Girls Expo in Osaka.
The bureau said that although the majority of Japanese tourists are aged between 50 and 60, in recent years it has observed an increase in the number of travelers aged between 20 and 29.
To encourage younger Japanese to visit, the bureau said it is working closely with the Ministry of Education and student exchange associations to encourage Japanese high-school students to participate in exchange programs and graduation vacations in Taiwan, adding that a good first impression goes a long way to nurturing the nation’s image overseas.
In spite of the drop in the number of Japanese visitors, the bureau said that the nation has advantages over its competitors in the Japanese tourism market, according to its analysis.
“Japanese tourists are influenced by their national characteristics, which make them more sensitive to and less accepting of uncertain environments. Compared with China and South Korea, Taiwan is a safe environment for tourists. Japanese nationals comprise about 60 to 70 percent of all foreign visitors to Taiwan who are not traveling in tour groups. In addition, Taiwan has a diverse culinary culture, including highly sought-after dumpling soups, which could become a significant asset in attracting Japanese tourists,” the bureau said.
However, an official at the bureau said on condition of anonymity that the underlying issue for attracting more Japanese tourists is that Taiwanese demand for air tickets to Japan far outweighs the demand in the opposite direction.
Since there is a finite supply of seats, the glut of Taiwanese travelers has the effect of crowding out Japanese tourists, who are hard-pressed to obtain tickets, the source said.
Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) statistics appear to confirm that Taiwanese demand for air travel to Japan is strong.
Fourteen airlines, including five low-cost carriers, operate routes between Taiwan and Japan and flew almost 9 million passengers last year, with a combined flight capacity of 10 million seats and an occupancy rate of more than 80 percent.
Low-cost airline V Air is due to start services to Japan before the end of this year, while TransAsia Airways is to deploy its new Airbus A330 jets on its Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport to Narita airport route, which it says have more comfortable cabins and superior levels of service.
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