Tourism Bureau tailoring plans to boost visitor arrivals

The Tourism Bureau said Wednesday it is targeting five global markets in its efforts to realize President Ma Ying-jeou's goal of increasing annual international tourist arrivals to 10 million within the next decade.

The bureau said it has set specific long-term goals for each of Taiwan's major sources of tourism -- China, Japan, Southeast Asia, Hong Kong and Macau, Europe and the United States.

The aim is to attract 5 million per year from China, 2 million from Japan, 1.5 million from Southeast Asia, 1.2 million from Hong Kong and Macau, and 0.8 million from Europe and the U.S., the bureau said.

However, different marketing strategies will be required in each case, Tourism Bureau Deputy Director-General Wayne Liu told CNA.

For instance, he said, the bureau will promote in-depth tours for female and senior travelers from Japan, while low-budget offers will be available for tourists from Southeast Asia, most of whom are young backpackers.

Visitors from further afield will be offered customized travel packages, Liu said.

"There will be hiking for Austrians and bird watching for the British, just to name a few," he said.

Already, some of the bureau's preliminary efforts have borne fruit, as evidenced by the record high visitor arrivals in September from some countries.

The number from China was 122,500, from Japan 123,000, and from Singapore, 19,400.

In a speech on Oct. 17, President Ma said one of the pillars of his "golden decade" vision was an increase in visitor arrivals to Taiwan to 10 million per year.

Source - focustaiwan.tw