December 28, 2016 TnH Global

Taiwan Tourism aims to attract more Indian travellers

Taiwan Tourism is targeting Indian families, movie industry and businesses with its lush green mountains, sea, high speed trains, cable cars, amusement parks and more. An international relations expert said traffic between the two countries is also set to increase given India’s ‘Act East Policy’ and increasing Taiwanese industrial investments in India.

Shuhan Pan of the International Affairs Division, Tourism Ministry of Transportation and Communications said, “We are looking for Indian families to visit Taiwan. Travel agents have been asked to promote Taiwan as a locale for shooting movies. We are also promoting Taiwan as a destination for corporate meetings.”

To promote Taiwan in India, Taiwan Tourism recently held an educational workshop for the travel fraternity and the media at Taj Mahal Hotel, New Delhi. The workshop started with a B2B session between the Indian travel agents and the stakeholders from the Taiwanese Travel industry including its national carrier, China Airlines, Princess Cruise, destination management companies like Good Time Vacations and hotels like Grand Hyatt Taipei.

Arthur Hsieh, Director, Taiwan Tourism, Singapore Office said, “2016 was a productive year for Taiwan Tourism. Our participation in various marketing activities and other initiatives to increase the number of Indian tourists in Taiwan has given us fruitful results.”

“The main focus of Taiwan Tourism was to diversify into varied consumer and B2B activities to increase the positive image of Taiwan in the Indian consumer mind-set and healthier growth figures in terms of Indians travelling to Taiwan,” he added. The tourism board was successful in reaching out to the B2B segment and the B2C market this year with sales calls, joint promotions and aggressive promotions to educate the potential Indian traveller.

The recent participation of Taiwan Tourism in India’s first full-fledged travel mart, Business and Luxury Travel Mart (BLTM), focused on specialised sellers and buyers from Business, MICE and Luxury Travel segments from all over the world. BLTM was a platform for Taiwan Tourism to meet corporate MNC buyers from around Delhi and National Capital Region like Godrej, Reliance, SBI, HDFC, Adani Wilmar etc, which was a great opportunity of future business prospects. Deputy Representative of Taipei Economic and Cultural Centre, India, Richard YS Chiu said, “Our new outbound policy gives priority to India over other countries. We are a welcoming and a friendly country, especially with Indians.”

Talking on the initiatives taken to increase the Indian travellers to Taiwan, Hsieh added that media FAM trips with SCOOT airlines and other media and bloggers FAMs were also organised to maintain a positive image of Taiwan in the Indian media.

“As Indians aspire for out of the box wedding destinations, Taiwan is home to some breathtaking destinations which have the potential to host Indian wedding ceremonies. Therefore, we are also promoting Taiwan as a leading wedding destination in India. A wedding planners FAM to Taiwan was organised and prominent wedding planners from Delhi, Jaipur, Ahmedabad, Mumbai and Kochi attended the FAM,” said Hsieh.

Taiwan visa made easier for Indian tourists

In 2015, Taiwan attracted over 40,000 Indian visitors and tourists and as per the trend, the numbers are set to grow. The tourism board plans to focus on consumer and trade activities in 2017 after easing out visa policies for Indian travellers. Indian nationals are now entitled to free Taiwan visa which can be applied online.