Taiwan plans to cooperate with other Asia-Pacific countries to promote travel within the region, the Tourism Bureau said yesterday.
The move is necessary to stimulate tourism that has been slow since the Sept. 11 attacks. Part of the efforts include a US$1.4 million regional advertising campaign.
"We have to cooperate with our neighbors to boost each other's inbound and outbound travel business," said Su Cheng-tien (
Su said the travel industry plays an important part in the nation's economy, as many businesses such as restaurants, shopping centers, hotels and transportation companies directly benefit from overseas visitors.
According to statistics compiled by the government, the number of inbound travelers dropped 0.26 percent last year compared to 2000. For outbound travelers the decline was 1.9 percent.
Before the Sept. 11 attacks, the Tourism Bureau predicted inbound travel would grow by 10 percent over the previous year.
A group of regional airlines will take part in the cooperation efforts with the aim of rebuilding consumer confidence.
"The key is to make customers feel comfortable getting back in the air," said Carlos Chua (
The association launched a US$1.4 million TV and print media campaign last month.
The campaign will run through April, covering key markets such as Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam, the Philippines and Brunei, Chua said.
Another official at the Tourism Bureau said the government began to place more emphasis on regional travel late last year.
"After realizing that travel between Asia and America or Europe slumped after Sept. 11, we decided to attract customers within the Asia-Pacific region," said Liu Shi-lin (
For example, Japanese travelers heading to Hawaii may instead switch to Taiwan, Liu said.
Starting from the last quarter of last year, the bureau developed several promotional plans to lure regional visitors -- especially people in Japan, Hong Kong and Singapore.
"Last December, the government gave each traveler landing at Taiwan's Kaohsiung International Airport from Hong Kong a welcome basket of fruit," he said.
Japanese travelers at 37 percent accounted for the majority of inbound travelers to Taiwan last year, followed by Hong Kongers at 15 percent, according to Liu.
In addition, an increasing number of flights within the region brings good news to the travel industry as well.
EVA Airway Corp (
The Ministry of Transportation and Communications announced yesterday that there will 119 flights between Taiwan and Thailand daily in March, up from 91.
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