Is Taiwan ready for tourism boom?

According to statistics of the Tourism Bureau and the Pacific Asia Travel Association, Taiwan and Japan saw the biggest increases in Northeast Asia in the number of foreign visitors in 2010. Taiwan's visitor number grew 26.7 percent from 2009 to reach a new high of 5,567,277.

With Minister of Transportation and Communications, Mao Chi-kuo, expecting visitor numbers to surpass 10 million in three to four years, Taiwan's tourism sector, which used to mainly target domestic travelers, is destined to go through changes and see new opportunities.

One of these changes taking place can be found in the hotel industry. Besides a boom in affordable hotels in Taipei, amusement parks have also been building their own hotels to attract tour groups.

Meanwhile, restaurant chains serving Taiwanese cuisine are seeing more foreign customers, who now contribute 20 percent of the revenues of leading brands such as Shin Yeh and AoBa, helping to raise the cuisine's global profile."Taipei must grab the chance to establish its position in Asia with local cuisine, in the same way that people associate Tokyo with sushi and ramen," said food writer Han Liang-lu.

However, problems in the industry have emerged following the sudden influx of foreign visitors, which requires the government and the private sector to work together on coming up with solutions.Travel agencies view the business of Chinese tourism as a risky one, despite its massive scale, because tourist numbers are controlled by the Chinese authorities, one tour operator said.

As a result, the industry is experiencing cut-throat competition, which has resulted in declining tour quality as operators use cheaper hotels and add visits to partner shops to their tour itineraries in efforts to earn more on commission.

Infrastructure is also an issue, said tour guide Liu Chien-hua, who noted for example that "the southern section of Provincial Highway No. 9 between Pingtung County's Fonggang and Taitung County frightens many guides because of the lack of proper rest facilities during the two-hour ride."

Source = focustaiwan