The Tourism Bureau yesterday launched its “2017 Ecotourism Year” campaign, with an eye on attracting more foreign visitors to participate in ecotourism activities across the nation.
The bureau showcased 20 ecotourism routes across the nation, which were selected by the Taiwan Ecotourism Association.
These include firefly and milkweed butterfly habitats, whale or dolphin watching, as well as tours of Aboriginal villages, wetlands or forest trails, bureau officials told a news conference in Taipei.
Photo: CNA, courtesy of the Tourism Bureau
The bureau said it has appointed ultramarathon runner Kevin Lin (林義傑) and travel blogger Hsieh Hsin-hsuan (謝晰璇) as the nation’s ecotourism ambassadors.
The campaign was launched amid reports that inbound tourism dropped 9.9 percent in the first quarter of the year compared with the previous year.
It was the first decline in foreign tourist numbers in 13 years.
Should the trend continue, Taiwan might have difficulty reaching its target of attracting 10 million international tourists this year, which it achieved in 2015 and last year.
Minister of Transportation and Communications Hochen Tan (賀陳旦) said he does not view the 10 million target as a goal that he must meet.
Rather, he is more concerned with encouraging people to return and visit Taiwan multiple times, he said.
“We want to make friends with people who will return and visit us again and again, and spend some time with us. Those who come and leave quickly or never return will not have a profound understanding of Taiwan. What we should be really working on is increasing the percentage of repeat visitors,” he said.
The government is stepping up its efforts to promote ecotourism, as the nation’s ecologically diverse environment is one of its most important assets, he said.
“We hope that more foreign visitors will take part in ecotourism activities when they visit Taiwan, whose biodiversity index on land and in the sea is higher than the global average. Taiwan is the natural habitat of many different species, which have so many stories to tell. These stories should be shared among our people and with international tourists,” he added.
The nation has been too focused on Chinese tourism and lagged behind in promoting its tourism resources, such as its natural environment, he said.
Information on these resources should be available in multiple languages and widely distributed around the world, he added.
Tourism Bureau Director-General Chou Yung-hui (周永暉) said the bureau’s goal is to have ecotourism account for about 16 to 20 percent of international visitors in the next few years.
Asia Ecotourism Network secretary Supaporn Prachumpai told the news conference that the group was impressed with Taiwan’s efforts to restore the natural habitats of fireflies in Taipei.
“This can be a model for other Asian nations to follow,” Prachumpai said. “Since Taiwan has a very rich diversity of nature and culture, we believe that Taiwan would be successful in the development of ecotourism and be able to attract many high-quality tourists.”
Prachumpai said that she was also surprised to find that Taiwan offers whale-watching tours and visits to milkfeed butterfly habitats, which she said not many Thai tourists know about.
To boost ecotourism, the bureau said it is working with local travel agencies specializing in ecotours, with the agencies arranging tours for groups with fewer than 20 people.
Tourists would have a better appreciation of the natural environment through guided tours provided by local residents, the bureau said.
The bureau said it plans to roll out different tourism themes in the coming years, including tours to outlying islands, small towns and mountain ranges.
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