More than 4,000 fans of the boy band Fahrenheit (飛輪海) gathered at the National Taiwan University auditorium yesterday afternoon to meet their idols in a concert that aimed to promote the tourism industry.
Although the event was scheduled to begin at 3pm, eager fans began lining up outside the auditorium in the morning to secure good spots.
Some fans were chosen to play games with their idols on stage and received prizes, including a three-day trip around Taiwan. Each fan also received a poster, an Easycard and a glowing fan featuring a group photo of Fahrenheit.
PHOTO: CNA
Wayne Liu (劉喜臨), director of the Tourism Bureau’s international affairs division, said Fahrenheit were the nation’s tourism ambassadors in Japan and South Korea this year, replacing their predecessor, boyband F4. He said that while F4 had been effective in generating interest among female fans in their late 30s and early 40s, Fahrenheit appeared to be the favorite among people in the 18-to-25 age group.
The event will be broadcast through Azio TV’s Asia network and the Internet service IM.TV, he said.
Aside from Japan and South Korea, the band also drew fans from Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines.
Statistics from the bureau showed that about 1.08 million Japanese tourists visited Taiwan last year, down 6.83 percent from 2007. Overall, approximately 16 million Japanese traveled abroad last year, a decrease of 7.6 percent from 2007.
While the value of the South Korean won dropped drastically last year, more than 250,000 South Koreans visited Taiwan, a growth of 11.71 percent from the previous year.
In related news, 1,310 diamond-class sales managers from Japan’s Daihatsu Motor will be arriving this week on a four-day tour offered by the company for top employees.
The bureau said this was the third time the company had organized the tour. Good food and friendliness toward Japanese were two of the main reasons why Taiwan was selected as the destination for the tour, the bureau said. While some arrived yesterday, the rest were scheduled to arrive at different times between now and next Tuesday.
The Daihatsu tour was preceded by one organized by the Japanese cosmetic firm POLA, which rewarded 1,300 sales representatives with a free trip to Taiwan last week.
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