The government would target the Indian corporate incentive market in a bid to reach its target of 10 million annual tourists to Taiwan, Tourism Administration Deputy Director-General Trust Lin (林信任) said yesterday.
However, to achieve that aim, direct flights to India need to resume, he said.
Flights were canceled during the COVID-19 pandemic and have not been relaunched, and this has made travel between the two countries not as convenient as before, Lin said.
Photo: Tsai Yung-jung, Taipei Times
In the interim, to spur tourism from India, the administration set up a Taiwan Tourism Service Office in Mumbai earlier this year, and participated in India’s business travel exhibition, he said.
“On June 20 this year, we invited operators from the Indian tourism industry to Taiwan for the first time,” Lin said.
Before the pandemic, one Indian enterprise originally planned to have 4,000 employees come to Taiwan, he said, adding that the plans had to be canceled due to COVID-19.
“Taiwanese electronics brands are also very popular in India, and there are many local suppliers. If an Indian business planned a trip to Taiwan, it would bring a lot of tourists,” he said.
Lin said that the Tourism Administration has been busy promoting incentive travel in many overseas markets, hoping to attract companies to travel to Taiwan.
“However, a big problem facing the Indian market in particular is that direct flights have not yet resumed, and that is something we will have to work on,” he said.
Separately, regarding tourism subsidies for domestic travel to earthquake-hit Hualien, Lin said that the details have yet to be worked out, but he encouraged the public to travel there more.
Asked whether Yilan would also be included as an eligible destination for subsidies, Lin said that it was unlikely.
Over the Dragon Boat Festival long weekend, Yilan’s booking rate is close to average, and its performance during the peak tourist season has been “very good,” he said.
“We will continue to monitor the situation and determine whether Yilan will be included,” he added.
Eight restaurants in Taiwan yesterday secured a one-star rating from the Michelin Guide Taiwan for the first time, while three one-star restaurants from last year’s edition were promoted to two stars. Forty-three restaurants were awarded one star this year, including 34 in Taipei, five in Taichung and four in Kaohsiung. Hosu (好嶼), Chuan Ya (川雅), Sushi Kajin (鮨嘉仁), aMaze (心宴), La Vie by Thomas Buhner, Yuan Yi (元一) and Frassi in Taipei and Front House (方蒔) in Kaohsiung received a one-star rating for the first time. Hosu is known for innovative Taiwanese dishes, while Chuan Ya serves Sichuan cuisine and aMaze specializes
Taitung County is to launch charter flights to Malaysia at the end of this year, after setting up flights to Vietnam and Thailand, the Taitung County Government said yesterday. The new charter flight services, provided by low-cost carrier Batik Air Malaysia, would be part of five-day tour packages for visits to Taitung County or Malaysia. The Batik Air charter flight, with about 200 seats, would take Malaysian tourists to Taitung on Dec. 30 and then at 12:35pm return to Kuala Lumpur with Taiwanese tourists. Another charter flight would bring the Taiwanese home on Jan. 3 next year, arriving at 5:30pm, before taking the
Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp. (THSRC) plans to ease strained capacity during peak hours by introducing new fare rules restricting passengers traveling without reserved seats in 2026, company Chairman Shih Che (史哲) said Wednesday. THSRC needs to tackle its capacity issue because there have been several occasions where passengers holding tickets with reserved seats did not make it onto their train in stations packed with individuals traveling without a reserved seat, Shih told reporters in a joint interview in Taipei. Non-reserved seats allow travelers maximum flexibility, but it has led to issues relating to quality of service and safety concerns, especially during
An exhibition celebrating Taiwan and Japan’s comic culture opened on Saturday in Taichung, featuring a section that explores Taiwanese reproductions of Japanese comics from when martial law limited Japanese representation. “A Century of Manga Culture: An Encounter of Taiwan and Japan’s Youth” held its Taiwan opening ceremony at Taichung’s National Taiwan Museum of Comics after an initial one-month run in Japan’s Kyoto International Manga Museum between May 24 and June 24. Much like the Kyoto exhibition, the show mainly celebrates the comic connection between Taiwan and Japan through late Taiwanese comic book
RSS