Despite a sharp dip in Japanese tourists this summer, Kenting (墾丁) was able to avoid the worst of the economic downturn. The secret, however, was not the bright sunshine or the soft sandy beach, but the power of a drama series, according to local hoteliers.
Some Kenting hoteliers said that business this summer saw 30 percent to 40 percent growth and many attributed a Public Television Station’s teenage idol soap opera Wayward Kenting (我在墾丁天氣晴) as the magnet attracting large numbers of visitors from Hong Kong, Macau and Singapore.
Caesar’s Palace Kenting said the broadcast of Wayward Kenting on two stations in Hong Kong in May and this month attracted many viewers to the southern resort town.
In June and July last year, Kenting received only about 170 Hong Kong tourists. But with the help of the show, the figure shot up to 750 this summer, the hotel said.
Many businesses and hotels are also keeping their fingers crossed that Cape No.7 (海角七號), a domestic film shot almost entirely in the Kenting and Hengchun (恆春) area, will attract another wave of enthusiasts to the southern tip of Taiwan.
Caesar’s Palace said most of the tourists from Hong Kong were young professionals. Many of them said they were drawn to Kenting because they wanted to see for themselves what the area was like after watching the show.
Many vacationers also often share their Kenting experiences on blogs that have also become an indirect promotional tool for the area.
Yu Wen-ying (游文瑛), deputy manager of the Howard Hotel, said her establishment attracted 30 percent to 40 percent more guests this summer, most of them young backpackers from Singapore and Hong Kong who were drawn to Kenting because of the show.
Drama series’ have been an effective tool in boosting Taiwan’s tourism, the Tourism Bureau said.
For example, after using some scenes shot around the Taipei 101 area, the highly popular South Korean soap opera On Air drew many people to Taipei who wanted to see the building for themselves.
Although the overall number of tourists took a sharp nosedive in the first part of the year, the figure for Korean tourists increased by 29 percent, the bureau said.
Taiwan’s food programs and variety shows, such as those featuring Taiwanese comedian Jacky Wu (吳宗憲), also played a big role in attracting tourists from Southeast Asia, the bureau’s international section chief Liu Hsi-ling (劉喜臨) said.
Liu also said that asking pop diva Jolin Tsai (蔡依林) to be the spokeswoman for Taiwan’s tourism industry was a smart move.
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