To draw tourists from abroad, Taiwan plans to open seven Taiwan Tourism Information Centers and 18 representative offices by the end of the year, the Tourism Administration announced on Saturday.
According to the agency, it has opened three representative offices overseas so far this year and plans to open two more before the year is over.
Additionally, it stated that it has already opened information centres in Jakarta, Mumbai, and Paris and that it plans to construct one each in Vancouver the following month and Manila in December.
It further stated that it would open offices in Sydney, Dubai, and Amsterdam the following year.
Although the Cabinet stated in a report presented on May 31 that it sought to attract more than 10 million international travellers through branding initiatives, the Cabinet did not address foreign tourists in its most recent policy report to the Legislative Yuan.
Just 5 million foreign visitors have made it to Taiwan as of last month.
At a conference on Saturday, representatives of the tourism industry stated that one of the objectives of the Tourism Administration is still to bring in over 10 million foreign visitors to Taiwan each year.
However, the agency stated that a variety of circumstances, including the strong earthquake that occurred in Hualien in April and its aftershocks, China’s military drills in the Taiwan Strait in May, the devaluation of the yen, and a recent storm, have discouraged tourism this year.
To promote travel, the Tourism Administration stated that it is still hiring marketing experts and growing its international offices.
“The agency is opening offices in Mumbai, India and Jakarta in short-haul markets,” a Tourism Administration official who wished to remain anonymous stated. “Next, it’s opening an office in France for long-haul markets.”
According to the official, the organization has also started marketing campaigns for each market and has located travel experts in Malaysia, South Korea, Japan, and Taiwan to encourage visitors to visit the country.
“At the same time, the agency is working with airlines in Southeast Asian markets on promotional activities, and is offering incentives such as discounted tickets for sections of the high-speed railway in central and southern Taiwan,” they stated.
The Tourism Administration stated that travel between the two nations has suffered as a result of Beijing’s tough policies against Taiwan, adding that it is assessing the situation and hoping China can “meet it halfway.”
Taiwanese tourists travelling to China outnumber Chinese tourists visiting Taiwan by a wide margin.
According to the agency, Taiwanese tourists travelled to China 1.76 million times in total last year (including multiple visits), up from 1.59 million visits between January and July of this year.
Chinese tourists travelled to Taiwan 226,000 times in the previous year, as opposed to 150,000 times between January and July of this year.
