Pinoys assist reshape Taiwan tourism

Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Corridor

Regardless of the geopolitical noise created by threats of invasion, Taiwan stays as a gorgeous vacationer vacation spot for Filipinos.

And that allure comes from Taiwan’s total efforts to reshape its tourism trade by luring extra holiday-makers from Southeast Asia, who are actually coming to the island in numbers near the years earlier than pandemic lockdowns stored folks of their houses.

Newest information from the Taiwan Tourism Administration present that complete worldwide arrivals in Taiwan had grown by 27.14 p.c year-on-year within the first 9 months of 2024 to five.5 million. The determine, nonetheless, remains to be under the 8.8 million arrivals recorded throughout the identical interval in 2019, or earlier than the pandemic.

However zooming in, vacationers from Southeast Asia had jumped by 10.5 p.c within the January to September interval to 1.68 million, already near pre-COVID-19 stage. Notably, Filipinos cornered the biggest share of Southeast Asian guests to the island after clocking in a 38.77-percent progress to 338,386—nearly hitting the quantity recorded in the identical nine-month interval in 2019.

“Taiwan is surrounded by mountains and seas, with wealthy and various pure landscapes. With the attractive surroundings, vacationers can all the time discover their inside peace by immersing themselves with the tranquility of Taiwan,” Cindy Chen, director of the Tourism Administration, tells the Inquirer in an interview throughout a familiarization tour on the island’s capital of Taipei.

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“With such causes, vacationers are desirous to revisit Taiwan and uncover its allure via completely different points,” Chen provides.

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Taipei 101 skyscraper

Loads of decisions

This, in flip, helps Taiwan’s financial system that—albeit technology-focused and export-oriented—has a vibrant tourism sector that generates jobs for many individuals working in locations just like the well-known night time markets.

”Whether or not in huge cities or small cities, from road meals to fantastic eating, there are many decisions to fulfill completely different wants,” Chen says.

As it’s, Southeast Asian vacationers are selecting up the slack from the nonetheless weak variety of Chinese language guests, who are actually being outnumbered by vacationers from the Philippines alone.

Official information present that in contrast to up to now years when mainland China was the highest supply of worldwide arrivals to Taiwan, the share of Chinese language guests to complete overseas vacationers to the island has shrunk to only round 5 p.c. The Tourism Administration stories that solely 293,235 Chinese language from the mainland visited the island within the first 9 months of 2024, coinciding with rising tensions within the Taiwan Strait.

In early June, Taipei guests can witness the annual Dragon Boat Competition.

Planning a visit?

It thus makes excellent sense that Taiwan now sees the Philippines as an vital market. Filipinos at the moment take pleasure in visa-free entry to Taiwan for as much as 14 days. On the similar time, Taiwan is the closest neighbor of the Philippines within the north, with main airways providing flights between the 2 locations.

And Filipinos are making essentially the most out of their visits. In line with the most recent information from the Tourism Administration, Filipinos stayed for a median of 6.31 nights in Taiwan—largely for leisure—in the course of the January to September interval, albeit the shortest amongst Southeast Asian guests.

Evening markets reminiscent of essentially the most well-known one in Shilin District

Greatest time to go

And in case you are planning a visit to Taiwan, Chen says holidaymakers from the Philippines could time their go to in the course of the Dragon Boat Competition, which is mostly held in early June across the summer time solstice in line with the Chinese language lunar calendar.

This yr, the Taipei Worldwide Dragon Boat Championships held final June 8 to 10 on the picturesque Dajia Riverside Park in Zhongshan District in Taipei was a spectacular showcase of contemporary cityscape, riverside growth and wealthy custom that attracted expert groups of rowers from Taiwan and across the globe.

“Loads of races can be organized from northern to southern Taiwan. There are extra customs for vacationers to expertise in the course of the vacation,” Chen says.