Dance festival kicks off to enhance Taiwan-Japan tourism ties

A two-day event showcasing Taiwanese and Japanese folk dance began Saturday in celebration of the friendship between the two countries and the growing bilateral tourism ties. Now in its eighth year, the dance festival held in Taipei's Xinyi shopping district is aimed at promoting cultural exchanges through performances of drumming, lion dancing and Japanese folk dance, said a Tourism Bureau official.

According to statistics, the total of 10 Japanese dance troupes with a combined 120 performers have also boosted foreign tourism in Taiwan by attracting more than 1,000 Japanese tourists to the annual extravaganza. "Japan is one of the most important travel markets for Taiwan, " said Chiang Ming-ching, director of the bureau's international affairs division. He said that in the first 10 months of this year, around 885,000 Japanese travelers visited Taiwan, a 6.5 percent rise compared with the same period of last year. Meanwhile, around 1.11 million Taiwanese travelers visited Japan in the same period, representing a 25.3 percent year-on-year increase. "As direct flights between Tokyo's Haneda Airport and Taipei International Airport resumed in October, we hope festivals like this can add more incentives for foreign travelers to explore Taiwan, " Chiang said.

Source=focustaiwan