(PRWEB) September 30, 2016
Deputy Director General Shi-Chung Chang of the Tourism Bureau, Ministry of Transportation and Communications of the ROC, leads the Taiwan Tourism delegation of 13 travel agencies, hotels, and smart communication carriers on a promotional tour; they have already visited New York and Chicago, and will be in Los Angeles on September 30th. Last year (2015), 479,452 American tourists visited Taiwan which is a 4.53% increase from the previous year (2014). Under a joint effort from the Tourism Bureau’s Los Angeles, San Francisco, and New York offices in developing tourism products and sales channels, 334,015 people traveled to Taiwan from the U.S. between January and August of this year (2016), a growth of 7.87% compared to the same period last year. Currently, there are 109 direct flights to Taiwan from the U.S. and Canada. By October of this year, non-stop flights from Chicago to Taipei will commence while Seattle, New York, Houston, and other cities will also increase their flight frequency. It is expected that by the end of the year, there will be 119 direct flights per week from North America to Taiwan.
There are about 23 million people in Southern California, in which there are about 1.5 million Filipinos, 1.2 million Vietnamese, 1 million Koreans, and 0.8 million Chinese and other Asians; along with mainstream Millennial travelers who are keen on exploring multi-destination tours, Deputy Director General Chang of the Tourism Bureau shared that, “We’ve made adjustments to our long distance travel marketing strategy. This year, we began working with the Hong Kong Tourism Board to promote the 'Taiwan x Hong Kong Multi-Destination Itineraries,' encouraging North American tourists to fully utilize their trip to Asia by visiting an additional city, and experiencing the diverse Chinese cultural essence. During the first half of this year, the Taiwan Tourism Bureau Los Angeles office had been executing product packaging and promotion of the Multi-Destination Tours, targeting the upstream suppliers and media of tourism sales channels. We have launched itineraries including 'Taiwan x Hong Kong,' 'Taiwan x Thailand,' 'Taiwan x The Philippines,' 'Taiwan x Singapore/Malaysia,' 'Taiwan x Korea,' and other multi-faceted tours aiming to satisfy tourists’ wide range of interests and needs with diversified products.”
In addition, the Tourism Bureau has developed the “Free Half-Day Tour” with morning and afternoon itineraries, catering to transit tourists from Southeast Asia and Northeast Asia. Travelers transiting through Taiwan can easily sign up at the airport tourism information center for free layover tours as a trial experience in order to enhance their interests in Taiwan as well as increasing their layover spending. Tourists who enjoy their brief stay in Taiwan may then purchase a full vacation package or customized flight and hotel combo for their next trip.
During a travel mart presentation, the Taiwan Tourism Bureau Los Angeles Office Director, Mr. Brad Shih, particularly indicated a pilot program of developing special interest themed tourism products with Southern California and Hawaii community organizations; including the Taiwan Cycling Tour, Gourmet of Taiwan, Tea Tour of Taiwan, Taiwan's Outlying Islands Tour, LOHAS Hiking, Nature Tour of Bird Watching and so on. These tours are in-depth, informative and filled with fun. Once the product packaging and sales operation matures, this program will extend to other states and tourism organizations in the U.S., in hopes of fostering Taiwan to become one of the lifetime must-visit destinations by 2017.
Travel Scope: Taiwan Penghu Islands with Joseph Rosendo (video): https://we.tl/YtC2yltbKB
