More than 5,000 employees of a Chinese health product group are to visit Taiwan from this week to next week for a six-day incentive tour, with the first batch of visitors to arrive today.
The Tourism Bureau said 5,600 employees of Infinitus International are to arrive at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport from various cities in China.
The bureau said that Infinitus’ employees would embark on high-quality tours across the nation, visiting tourist attractions in Taipei, New Taipei City, Taichung and Nantou.
The visitors are to stay at four-star and five-star hotels, it added.
The tour is estimated to generate tourism revenue of about NT$365 million (US$11.27 million) and boost the economy in each locality the tourists visit, the bureau said.
The tour is arranged by Taipei-based South East Travel.
Agency spokesperson Hsu Yong-yu (許永裕) said the aim of the tour was to experience everyday life in Taiwan.
He said that the visitors would have the opportunity to cycle around Sun Moon Lake and they would also have a hands-on experience of the life of Aborigines in the Formosan Aboriginal Cultural Village, including pounding glutinous rice cake, using a bow and arrow, weaving traditional Aboriginal clothes and roasting a boar.
The visitors are also to visit New Taipei City’s Jiufen District (九份) and the National Palace Museum in Taipei to view historical artifacts, Hsu added.
Eric Lin (林坤源), director of the bureau’s international affairs division, said that the Chinese company had considered both Japan and South Korea for the firm’s incentive tour, but instead chose Taiwan.
Lin said that the bureau has raised the subsidy for incentive tour programs to attract more international tourists to Taiwan, but added that the subsidy is not the only reason that Infinitus chose the nation.
He also said that revenue generated by such tourists is many times more than the subsidy the bureau provides.
Statistics from the bureau showed that the incentive tour market grew by 18 percent last year from 2014.
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