Taiwan aims to open 18 representative offices and seven Taiwan Tourism Information Centers worldwide by next year to attract international visitors, the Tourism Administration said on Saturday.
The agency has so far opened three representative offices abroad this year and would open two more before the end of the year, it said.
It has also already opened information centers in Jakarta, Mumbai and Paris, and is to open one in Vancouver next month and in Manila in December, it said.
Photo: Tyrone Siu, Reuters
Next year, it would also open offices in Amsterdam, Dubai and Sydney, it added.
While the Cabinet did not mention international tourists in its latest policy report to the Legislative Yuan, a report submitted on May 31 said it aimed to attract more than 10 million international travelers through branding initiatives.
As of last month, only 5 million international travelers have visited Taiwan this year.
During a meeting on Saturday, tourism officials said that attracting more than 10 million international tourists to Taiwan annually remains one of the Tourism Administration’s goals.
However, a number of factors had deterred tourism this year — namely, the massive earthquake that struck Hualien in April and its aftershocks, China’s military exercises in the Taiwan Strait in May, the depreciation of the yen and a recent typhoon, the agency said.
The Tourism Administration is continuing to expand overseas offices and hire marketing professionals to promote tourism, it said.
“In short-haul markets, the agency is opening offices in Mumbai, India and Jakarta,” said a Tourism Administration official who declined to be named. “In long-haul markets, it is establishing an office in France next.”
The agency has also launched promotional plans for each market, and has found tourism spokespeople in Japan, South Korea and Malaysia to promote travel to Taiwan, the official said.
“At the same time, the agency is offering incentives such as discounted tickets for sections of the high-speed railway in central and southern Taiwan, and is working with airlines in Southeast Asian markets on promotional activities,” they said.
Meanwhile, Beijing’s aggressive policies toward Taiwan have negatively affected tourism between the countries, the Tourism Administration said, adding that it is reviewing the situation and hopes China can “meet it halfway.”
The number of Taiwanese visiting China far exceeds the number of Chinese visiting Taiwan.
Last year, Taiwanese visited China a total of 1.76 million times (including people who made multiple trips), compared with 1.59 million trips from January to July this year, the agency said.
Meanwhile, Chinese visited Taiwan 226,000 times last year, compared with 150,000 between January and July this year.
FIVE-YEAR WINDOW? A defense institute CEO said a timeline for a potential Chinese invasion was based on expected ‘tough measures’ when Xi Jinping seeks a new term Most Taiwanese are willing to defend the nation against a Chinese attack, but the majority believe Beijing is unlikely to invade within the next five years, a poll showed yesterday. The poll carried out last month was commissioned by the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, a Taipei-based think tank, and released ahead of Double Ten National Day today, when President William Lai (賴清德) is to deliver a speech. China maintains a near-daily military presence around Taiwan and has held three rounds of war games in the past two years. CIA Director William Burns last year said that Chinese President Xi Jinping
President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday said that China has “no right to represent Taiwan,” but stressed that the nation was willing to work with Beijing on issues of mutual interest. “The Republic of China has already put down roots in Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu,” Lai said in his first Double Ten National Day address outside the Presidential Office Building in Taipei. “And the Republic of China and the People’s Republic of China [PRC] are not subordinate to each other.” “The People’s Republic of China has no right to represent Taiwan,” he said at the event marking the 113th National Day of
SPEECH IMPEDIMENT? The state department said that using routine celebrations or public remarks as a pretext for provocation would undermine peace and stability Beijing’s expected use of President William Lai’s (賴清德) Double Ten National Day speech today as a pretext for provocative measures would undermine peace and stability, the US Department of State said on Tuesday. Taiwanese officials have said that China is likely to launch military drills near Taiwan in response to Lai’s speech as a pretext to pressure the nation to accept its sovereignty claims. A state department spokesperson said it could not speculate on what China would or would not do. “However, it is worth emphasizing that using routine annual celebrations or public remarks as a pretext or excuse for provocative or coercive
CONCERNS: Allowing the government, political parties or the military to own up to 10 percent of a large media firm is a risk Taiwan cannot afford to take, a lawyer said A Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislator has proposed amendments to allow the government, political parties and the military to indirectly invest in broadcast media, prompting concerns of potential political interference. Under Article 1 of the Satellite Broadcasting Act (衛星廣播電視法), the government and political parties — as well as foundations established with their endowments, and those commissioned by them — cannot directly or indirectly invest in satellite broadcasting businesses. A similar regulation is in the Cable Radio and Television Act (有線廣播電視法). “The purpose of banning the government, political parties and the military from investing in the media is to prevent them from interfering
RSS