Taipei Department of Information and Tourism Commissioner Chien Yu-yen (簡余晏) says her office is changing its focus under Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je’s (柯文哲) administration, seeking to “promote Taipeiers” (行銷台北人), instead of publicizing the city government and the mayor as previous administrations have done.
In a recent interview with the Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper), Chien said she hopes Taipei residents will help her find values that are particular to Taipei and that can be used to boost Taipei’s visibility in Asia and around the globe.
As part of Ko’s “streamlined bureaucracy,” the department would also orchestrate the city’s annual activities in accordance with its residents’ values, she said.
Photo: Courtesy of Chien Yu-yen
The department will begin by withdrawing public-service commercials such as those that promote “don’t drink and drive” or “brush your teeth,” because they are simply asking residents to do something they have already been doing, she said.
“A new generation of Taipei people need no indoctrination,” Chien added.
The department will also discontinue checking newspapers for possibly obscene advertisements and redirect its resources to gain an understanding of the development of new media to bring about new changes, she added
Asked whether the Ko administration would continue the city’s famous New Year’s Eve celebrations outside Taipei City Hall, Chien said that aside from the traditional fireworks and performances by pop stars, what is needed is for such celebrations to have something that highlights Taipei.
The department plans to begin organizing this December’s New Year’s Eve celebration as early as March, she said.
The department wants to spice up the annual pastry and kitchenware festivals — formerly the Taipei Pineapple Cake Festival — and the Lovers’ Day Festival scheduled for July with elements that highlight Taipei’s uniqueness while preserving all the traditional elements.
To realize the tourism proposals Ko put forward while campaigning for mayor, the department is planning to introduce a “city tour bus” by the middle of this year.
Although many tourist attractions are accessible via the Taipei metro system, using the metro deprives tourists of their chance to see the city “up close,” she said.
The department is brainstorming new transportation options capable of competing with London’s famed double-decker buses or Japan’s Totoro buses, as a way of boosting the number of tourist arrivals in the nation to more than 10 million by the end of the year, she said.
While keeping the city’s mobile applications for tourism up to date, the city government should also help hostel and bed and breakfast (B&B) operators comply with lodging regulations to attract young backpackers, she said.
Therefore the city is considering the possibility of setting up temporary lodging regulations to support the owners of such operations, she said.
Chien urged the central government to deregulate the hostel and B&B industry to help make Taipei more backpacker friendly.
Asked about perceptions among other Taiwanese that Taipei residents feel themselves to be superior, Chien referred to the Japanese cartoon One Piece, in which residents of the “Kingdom of Celestial Dragons” receive special privileges and view themselves as superior to outsiders.
“Is Taipei really Tian Long Guo (天龍國) and are Taipei residents living in Tian Long Guo?” she said.
She said Taipei residents can be characterized by their pluralism, globalism, sincerity, charitableness, friendliness, hospitality and diligence.
Citing a popular recent online article titled “Ten Peculiarities of Taipeiers,” she said that Taipei residents are very group-conscious and orderly, as they “instinctively stand on the right when taking an escalator” — one peculiarity named by the article.
“Taipei residents’ willingness to stand in lines demonstrates their lawfulness, while the apparent penchant for selfies among Taipeiers is a manifestation of their confidence,” she added.
Chien said that she expects Taipeiers to embark on a journey of self-realization this year and pursue a set of collective values that could come to define “Taipei-ness.”
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