The Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) should integrate tourism resources to market Taiwan's overall image and attract international travelers to place Taiwan on their itinerary of travel destinations, Premier Jiang Yi-huah said today.
The premier made these remarks while presiding over the Executive Yuan's policy affairs meeting, where he was briefed by the MOTC on its appraisal of Taiwan's tourism carrying capacity and its plan to develop the international market.
The premier further stated that the Tourism Bureau should incorporate relevant ministries' views concerning natural landscapes, traditions and customs, arts and culture as well as gourmet foods and integrate them into international advertising.
Presently, the government's tourism policy is to focus on both quantity and quality, with more emphasis placed on the latter. Therefore, the bureau should strive to improve tourism quality and services and steadily increase tourist volume, Jiang said.
The premier also stated that the Tourism Bureau must collaborate with the private sector to formulate appropriate travel routes and introduce frequently overlooked scenic spots with international tourism potential so that travelers may be more evenly distributed and not all throng toward the most popular locations. Aside from natural landscapes and museums, these routes may encompass residences of late literati or artists, cultures of Hakka and indigenous peoples, Taiwanese farms and villages, religious ceremonies and festivals, national parks, Kinmen and Matsu battleground culture, and so forth.
Internationalization is of utmost importance to attracting foreign tourists, the premier believes. Aside from printing and widely distributing tourism brochures in English, information in other main foreign languages such as Japanese may also be made available, he said. As for hotel accommodations and transportation, the bureau must also assist the sector to globalize and enhance quality to serve international patrons. Moreover, market surveys and analyses on international tourists must also be given attention so that improvements can be made concerning the deficiencies and shortcomings indicated by traveler feedback.
Jiang also asked the Ministry of Education and vocational schools offering tourism programs to cultivate more talents for the sector and directed the Ministry of Labor to help these programs' students to find jobs after they graduate.
MOTC officials said the number of foreign visitors touring Taiwan more than doubled to 8.02 million in 2013 from 3.85 million in 2008, with revenues generated also doubling to NT$374.8 billion (US$12.2 billion) from NT$187.1 billion (US$6.1 million) over that time.
In recent years, the number of tourists from mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau has grown significantly and visitors from Southeast Asia have increased too. However, there has been no considerable growth in the number of tourists from the U.S. and Europe, who typically have high spending budgets. Jiang asked the Tourism Bureau's and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' overseas offices in these regions to work more on promoting tourism in Taiwan.
Regulatory easing and supportive policies have spurred investment in the hotel industry, the MOTC said. According to the Tourism Bureau, between July 2008 and the end of 2013, a total of NT$148.7 billion (US$4.9 billion) was invested to build 602 new hotels and renovate 1,097 hotels. A further NT$161.5 billion (US$5.3 billion) is expected to be injected into hotel facilities, with 356 new establishments anticipated to be unveiled between 2014 and 2016.
The Tourism Bureau has drafted several strategies to meet its target of attracting over 9 million foreign tourists to Taiwan in a single year, including:
- Further tapping into major clientele sources.
- Carving out market niches for Taiwan's tourism products.
- Attracting white-collar foreigners based in the mainland, Hong Kong and Macau as well as business travelers from the U.S. and Europe.
- Streamlining visa procedures for Southeast Asian visitors and cruise liner tourists.
- Increasing the nation's share of the Muslim tourist market.
- Improving the quality of scenic areas and tourism services.
The MOTC expects to improve Taiwan's tourism both in quality and quantity and attract more foreign tourists to Taiwan this year.