A shortage of Halal-certified restaurants and difficulties in obtaining travel visas are the main reasons more Southeast Asians are not visiting Taiwan, a recent survey by the travel search engine Skyscanner found.
In a previous survey by Skyscanner, respondents said most Asian tourists consider Taiwan a safe travel destination whose people are friendly to tourists in general, although not many had visited the nation.
The company decided to conduct another poll to find out what factors are stopping more Asians from visiting Taiwan.
Photo: Wang Kuan-jen, Taipei Times
The survey was conducted in May among 5,000 Skyscanner users in Hong Kong, China, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
The poll found that Singaporean and Malaysian respondents cited a shortage of Halal-certified restaurants as the main reason why they have not yet visited Taiwan.
Vietnamese and Philippine respondents cited the difficulties in obtaining visas, language barriers and high travel costs.
However, Skyscanner said Taiwan was ranked No. 18 in terms of travel destinations frequently searched by its Vietnamese users last year, No. 12 among Thai users, No. 10 among Singaporean users and No. 8 among Malaysian and Philippine users.
Taiwan was relatively a more popular place to visit among people in northeast Asia, ranking No. 2 in Hong Kong, and No. 3 in Japan and No. 6 in South Korea for frequently searched travel destinations.
Asked why they were not interested in visiting Taiwan, some Hong Kong respondents said Taiwan was not their first choice destination and it did not strike them as an attractive place for tourists.
Japanese said they preferred to go farther afield, while South Koreans cited Taiwan’s hot weather.
The government has been working to increase the number of Halal-certified restaurants, to streamline visa application procedures for citizens of Southeast Asian nations and to create a friendly environment that would attract tourists from the region, Skyscanner marketing manager Jane Chang (張瑜珍) said.
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