TAIWAN - targets three promising sectors

TTGasia.com, Nov 30 - Dec 6, 2007

To increase foreign arrivals, Taiwan’s Cabinet-level Council for Economic Planning and Development (CEPD) announced it would ramp up promotions to market sectors with especially promising growth potential, including medical tourism, the Japanese market and MICE (meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions).

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TAIWAN - Tourism threatens one of East Asia's top diving spots

Reuters.com, Oct 31 2007

A tropical island off the coast of Taiwan has become a victim of its own success as pollution caused by a recent spike in tourism threatens its reputation as the best diving spot in East Asia.The aptly named 15-square-kilometre Green Island, an hour's ferry ride from Taiwan's main isle, is fast losing its luster due to garbage and excrement dumped into its azure waters and shrinking reefs plundered by coral-robbing tourists."The water is not as clear as it used to be," a dismayed Taiwan Vice President Annette Lu told Reuters after surveying Green Island by boat in October. "That's what happens when a place chooses to grow."

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TAIWAN - looking to generate more medical tourism

taipeitimes.com, Novermber 5 2007

Taiwan is to promote medical services to generate medical tourism to the tune of NT$7 billion (US$215.52 million) within three years, an official said yesterday.
Wu Ming-yen, chief executive officer of an international medical services project, was speaking after a team, comprised of the Taiwan Nongovernmental Hospitals and Clinics Association, Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research and 20 prestigious hospitals, announced the inauguration of a project management center.

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TAIWAN - Industries promote medical tourism

CNA, Oct 06, 2007

A new business alliance between a popular hotel, a travel agency and a medical association announced a program yesterday to promote medical tourism in Taiwan.
It is the first time that the three industries have joined forces to promote medical tourism, the market for which, according to estimates by the Council for Economic Planning and Development, could be worth up to NT$7 billion (US$220 million) per year.
Under the program, the Grand Hotel, the Taiwan Hospital Association and the Taipei-based Asia-Pacific Society of Travel Medicine (ASTM) will cooperate in promoting tourism packages to foreign visitors.
The cost of a four-day tour is estimated at between NT$30,000 and NT$60,000. The tour would include a three-hour health checkup, an anti-oxidation treatment, skin care and a magnetic wave face lift session.
Customers would stay at Taipei's Grand Hotel and spend their leisure time visiting local tourists spots, such as Taipei 101 and the National Palace Museum.

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TAIWAN - hopes to continue its tourism success story in 2007

eTN Asia, 31-1-2007

After witnessing reasonable hike in foreign tourists arrivals and foreign exchange earnings, the Tourism Bureau in Taiwan isn’t ruling out the possibility of a record number of tourists in 2007. And for that to happen, a lot would depend upon government lifting restrictions on visitors from China.
The Tourism Bureau said that its target for 2007 is 3.75 million tourists. But it also says that figure could be higher if more Chinese visitors are allowed.
Foreign tourists made more than 3.51 million visits to Taiwan last year, up 4.19 percent from the previous year. In December, the number of tourists was 320,000, setting a single month record. Officials estimate that the production value of tourism last year amounted to NT$372.5 billion (US$11.35 billion), up 4.6 percent from 2005.
A spokesperson from Tourism Bureau said, “This year if we can smoothly relax restrictions on visitors from China, we estimate we could get four million tourists. We had around 100,000 visitors from China last year. So this year if there is a quota for 1,000 Chinese tourists per day, we might well see a further 250,000.”

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ENVIRONMENT - Rising Number of Vehicles Feed Deadly air Pollution in Asian Cities

eTN, 14-12-2006

With 600,000 people in Asia dying prematurely from air pollution each year, the continent’s major cities face a key challenge in reducing the daunting figure, according to a new United Nations-backed report: although vehicle emissions are being reduced, the volume of vehicles is rising rapidly.

The UN - study, Urban Air Pollution in Asia Cities, released ahead of the first
governmental meeting on urban air quality opening today in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, reports that while air quality has improved in some, pollution remains a threat to health and quality of life in others. Asia’s growth in population, urbanization, motorization and energy consumption remain major challenges.

One of its key findings is that concentrations of the fine particulate matter PM10, one of the main threats to health and life is, “serious” in Beijing, Dhaka, Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Jakarta, Kathmandu, Kolkata, New Delhi, and Shanghai.

“There is as strong an association between fine particulate matter and health issues in Asia as there is in Europe and the United States, but in Asia the concentrations of particulates are much higher,” the study’s lead author Dieter Schwela said.

But the report, focusing on 22 cities, also finds that Bangkok, Hong Kong, Seoul, Shanghai, Singapore, Taipei and Tokyo have an “excellent” capacity to manage air quality. Beijing, Busan and New Delhi are rated as having “good” air quality management capability. All these cities have achieved major reductions in key emissions but still need to address fine particulate pollution from vehicle fumes.

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TAIWAN - A vision for Taiwan

TTGasia, Nov 17 - 23, 2006 / No.1502

Taiwan Tourism Bureau director-general, Hsu Wen Cheng, shares his strategic plans with John Westbrook.

What is your vision for Taiwan’s tourism industry in the coming year?

Our vision is to turn Taiwan into one of Asia’s top travel destinations.

Taiwan certainly has significant potential for tourism development. We have an abundance of natural and cultural resources, a reputation among international travellers as a friendly and hospitable people, warm weather and excellent infrastructure.

Over the past three years, we have achieved impressive results through the combined efforts of the central and local governments under the Doubling Tourists Arrival Plan.

We have developed and improved tour routes, established travel service networks, rolled out international promotions and advertising campaigns and created an even more visitor-friendly travel environment.

Which areas are not being tapped or are unexplored?

Taiwan has 264 mountains rising more than 3,000m high, including East Asia’s highest peak, Yushan (Mt Jade) at 3,952m, canyons, rugged coasts, golden beaches, volcanic terrain and hotsprings.

In terms of culture, Taiwan has been enriched by Austronesian, Chinese and Japanese influences.

The potential for cultural tourism in Taiwan could be more fully realised by incorporating these cultural assets in packaged tours or by developing new sites and creating distinctive products.

Please outline Taiwan’s international tourism marketing strategy for 2007

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DEVELOPMENTS - Asia welcomes plans for delayed `Iron Silk Road'

AFP, SEOUL, Nov 06, 2006, Page 11

Asian transport ministers meeting in South Korea this week will take a major step towards making a decades-old dream a reality -- integrating the entire continent into a single rail network.

Transport ministers and officials from 43 countries will gather in the port city of Busan starting today for this year's ministerial conference on transport organized by the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP).

The highlight of the six-day conference will be Friday's signing of the Intergovernmental Agreement on the Trans-Asian Railway (TAR) -- more poetically known as the "Iron Silk Road."

The 81,000km network, first mooted by the UN in 1960, would link capitals, ports and industrial hubs across 28 Asian countries all the way to Europe.

`COMMITMENT'

By signing, Asian states will "demonstrate their commitment to working together" on the mammoth project, said Barry Cable, director of UNESCAP's Transport and Tourism Division.

"We expect this will trigger new development in the railway sector both in terms of increasing capacity and in terms of increasing connectivity," he said.

Cable said such an international commitment would make it easier for countries to attract finance for railways from international banks.

"The agreement lays a framework for coordinated development of internationally important rail routes," UNESCAP chief Kim Hak-su said in a statement.

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TAIWAN - tourism boom

TTGasia, Oct 20 - 26, 2006 / No.1499

FROM 158 organisations taking part at the first Taipei ITF in December 1987, the event has grown to 598 organisations this year, its 20th anniversary.

Honorary chairman of the Taiwan Visitors Association (TVA) and chairman of the Taipei ITF organising committee, Mr Stanley Yen, who was there from the start, said the event was successful from day one.

“When the Taiwan government removed the foreign exchange ban in June 1987, there were already 846,000 outbound travellers and tourism expenditure of US$2 billion, even though the economy was not as strong as it is now.

“TVA (a non-profit tourism organisation and the organiser of Taipei ITF) saw the opportunity to do something and decided to set up a platform where international exhibitors could promote their destinations and products to consumers, especially the
mass market.

“The first ITF created a lot of interest and curiosity about Taiwan. At that time, the mature outbound markets were Japan, Singapore and Hong Kong. But because of Taiwan’s large population, it had a lot of potential.”

Proof of Taiwan’s potential was reflected in TVA’s decision to upgrade the biennial ITF into an annual affair, starting in 1999. Mr Yen said: “The demand was overwhelming and we realised we could maximise the potential by holding it every year, and ITF has continued to grow.”

The number of organisations taking part grew from 312 in 1997, to 313 in 1999 and 326 in 2000, while the number of booths increased from 481, to 520 to 548 respectively.

Taiwan’s outbound market has now grown to around seven billion travellers and expenditure of around US$10 billion. And from a mass market outbound-focused consumer fair, Mr Yen said ITF had evolved to incorporate domestic and inbound tourism.

“In the last few years, Taiwan has developed many new upmarket resorts and facilities targeted at youth travellers. And some are very unique. They are targeted at a growing number of sophisticated Taiwanese travellers, and are also suitable for the international market,” he added.

“As a result we have seen an increasing number of visitors from Singapore and Malaysia in Ilan, where there are hotsprings, interesting scenery and local culture.

“And the length of stay has definitely increased.”

Of the 598 organisations taking part this year, there are 106 national and regional tourism organisations, 56 tourism associations, 206 hotels and resorts, 61 travel agencies, 53 attractions, 26 transport companies and 90 other related companies, representing Taiwan and 59 other countries.

The 945 booths they occupy will take up all four exhibition halls of the Taipei World Trade Center.

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TAIWAN - foreign earnings from tourism set all-time record

Asia Focus, 10-5-2006

Taiwan's foreign exchange earnings from tourism totaled US$4.98 billion last year, setting an all-time record, according to statistics released Wednesday by the Directorate General of Budget Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS).

The statistics also show that forex earnings from tourism in the first six months of this year reached US$2.53 billion. * In terms of visitors, 2004 saw 2.95 million tourist arrivals, with the total growing to 3.38 million in 2005. * For the first eight months of this year, tourist arrivals already reached 2.3 million, while the average cost of a hotel room increased to NT$3,131 per night, with Asians making up 79.3 per cent of tourist arrivals in 2005.

(C) Copyright 2006 Asia In Focus

MARKETS - China Retains Top Spot as Most Frequently Visited Destination

asiatraveltips.com, 8 September 2006

MasterCard Worldwide released on Thursday the results of its MasterIndex of Travel survey report on business and personal travel trends among the urban middle class across 13 markets (Australia, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam). Released twice a year, the survey report shows that intra-regional travel around the region still seems to be the most popular choice.

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TAIWAN - Breakthrough Achieved for Chinese Tourists to Visit Taiwan

People-to-people exchange across the Taiwan Strait has witnessed a major breakthrough with the inauguration of China’s “Cross-Strait Travel Exchange Association” yesterday (Aug. 17), paving the way for Chinese tourists to visit Taiwan.

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CONFERENCES - 4th APacCHRIE Conference

The 4th Apac-CHRIE and the 12th Asia Pacific Tourism Association Joint Conference will be an exciting international event being held in Hualien, the last wonderlands in Taiwan June 26-29, 2006.

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TAIWAN - Tourism Shares Thrive

Taiwan's tourism shares have soared over the past few months despite an overall drop in the market, but analysts say a few can rise even further as the island prepares to cut restrictions on travelers from rival China.
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