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By Chung Li-hua and William Hetherington / Staff reporter, with staff writer
Taiwan aims to open 18 representative offices and seven Taiwan Tourism Information Centers worldwide by next year to attract international visitors, the Tourism Administration said on Saturday.
The agency has so far opened three representative offices abroad this year and would open two more before the end of the year, it said.
It has also already opened information centers in Jakarta, Mumbai and Paris, and is to open one in Vancouver next month and in Manila in December, it said.
Photo: Tyrone Siu, Reuters
Next year, it would also open offices in Amsterdam, Dubai and Sydney, it added.
While the Cabinet did not mention international tourists in its latest policy report to the Legislative Yuan, a report submitted on May 31 said it aimed to attract more than 10 million international travelers through branding initiatives.
As of last month, only 5 million international travelers have visited Taiwan this year.
During a meeting on Saturday, tourism officials said that attracting more than 10 million international tourists to Taiwan annually remains one of the Tourism Administration’s goals.
However, a number of factors had deterred tourism this year — namely, the massive earthquake that struck Hualien in April and its aftershocks, China’s military exercises in the Taiwan Strait in May, the depreciation of the yen and a recent typhoon, the agency said.
The Tourism Administration is continuing to expand overseas offices and hire marketing professionals to promote tourism, it said.
“In short-haul markets, the agency is opening offices in Mumbai, India and Jakarta,” said a Tourism Administration official who declined to be named. “In long-haul markets, it is establishing an office in France next.”
The agency has also launched promotional plans for each market, and has found tourism spokespeople in Japan, South Korea and Malaysia to promote travel to Taiwan, the official said.
“At the same time, the agency is offering incentives such as discounted tickets for sections of the high-speed railway in central and southern Taiwan, and is working with airlines in Southeast Asian markets on promotional activities,” they said.
Meanwhile, Beijing’s aggressive policies toward Taiwan have negatively affected tourism between the countries, the Tourism Administration said, adding that it is reviewing the situation and hopes China can “meet it halfway.”
The number of Taiwanese visiting China far exceeds the number of Chinese visiting Taiwan.
Last year, Taiwanese visited China a total of 1.76 million times (including people who made multiple trips), compared with 1.59 million trips from January to July this year, the agency said.
Meanwhile, Chinese visited Taiwan 226,000 times last year, compared with 150,000 between January and July this year.
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