The Taipei City Government on Wednesday introduced of a series of tourism promotions, including free sightseeing bus tours and hotel discounts, in a bid to boost the number of international visitors.
From now until June 30, 10,000 free Taipei Sightseeing Bus tickets are to be made available to travelers who stay in designated hotels for two nights, cruise passengers and European visitors transiting for more than 15 hours, the Taipei Department of Information and Tourism said.
Eligible tourists can ask for the free four-hour unlimited ride bus tickets by presenting their passports at the hotels they stay in or from the Discovery Center of Taipei at Taipei City Hall, the department said.
Photo: CNA
The sightseeing buses have two routes: one going between Taipei Railway Station and the National Palace Museum, and another that stops at Longshan Temple, Liberty Square and Taipei 101.
Ticket holders can hop on and off between the two routes during a four-hour period.
International visitors staying two nights at a designated hotel can get a discount of NT$10,000 per night by asking the hotel about the Undiscovered Taipei program when booking their stay, the department said.
Designated hotels include the Regent Taipei, Hotel Royal-Nikko and the Grand Hotel, it said.
Taipei is expanding the program to include more hotels, the department said, adding that it is working with local sectors to attract more international tourists.
The preferential marketing activities aim to raise Taipei to a top international destination and create more business opportunities related to inbound tourism, the department said.
Taipei this year was named on the New York Times’ “52 Places to Go.”
The city is always ready to welcome foreign tourists, the department said.
Visitors from Hong Kong and Macau can arrive easily given the short flight time, the department added.
A study published by online booking platform Expedia revealed searches for travel to Taipei have ballooned 2,786 percent following the lifting of COVID-19 pandemic travel restrictions due to the city being a “designation dupe” for Seoul. The TikTok trend for duping — referring to substituting a designation for a more inexpensive alternative — helped propel interest in Taipei, it said in a consumer survey titled “Unpack ‘24,” which was conducted from September to October in 14 countries. Location dupes are “every bit as delightful as the tried-and-true places travelers love,” Expedia trend tracker Melanie Fish said of the year’s popular alternatives, which
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