After a Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) report on the Taipei International Travel Fair and Taiwan Cycling Festival at today's Cabinet meeting, Premier Jiang Yi-huah called for these events to be made even bigger and better in order to further boost tourism.
According to the MOTC, the Taipei International Travel Fair is the most important and best-attended travel fair in Asia. Up to 315,000 people took part in 2013, and at least 320,000 are projected to come to this year's event, which runs from November 7-10.
The premier asked the MOTC to continue providing guidance to the industries and groups running the fair in order to raise the overall competitiveness of the nation's tourism, using this platform to help Taiwan's travel companies receive greater international exposure and bring more quality and high-value groups to Taiwan.
Although the fair has attracted huge crowds in recent years, more consideration must be given to onsite orderliness and quality, Jiang indicated. He asked the Tourism Bureau to continue improving the expo so it will win the approval of more citizens and foreign visitors.
After reiterating the importance of internationalizing and diversifying tourism, the premier advised that in addition to attracting more overseas tourists besides mainland Chinese to come to Taiwan for travel, agencies must take concrete supporting measures as well. For instance, the island should be made an English-language environment, not only in terms of signage but also by making services more international, he said. He then asked the Tourism Bureau to solicit the cooperation of other agencies on this effort.
The 2014 Taiwan Cycling Festival is scheduled to take place November 8-16 and feature three major activities: Taiwan KOM Challenge, Formosa 900, and Sun Moon Lake Come! Bikeday.
The Ministry of Education's Sports Administration and the Tourism Bureau are collaborating on promoting the festival, a celebration that combines cycling and marketing, Jiang said. He asked the agencies to work together closely to promote new routes and competitions in order to attract more of the world's cycling aficionados to come bike in Taiwan. The goal should be to raise the nation's profile so that whenever someone sees a bike, he or she thinks of Taiwan, the premier stated.
Moreover, Jiang requested the Tourism Bureau to target the three goals of world fame, development, and healthy lifestyle in its promotion of the cycling travel industry and asked the Ministry of Economic Affairs to offer assistance as well.