RP sees brighter tourism prospects in Taiwan market following Taipei Int’l Travel Fair

27 November 2009 MANILA ECONOMIC AND CULTURAL OFFICE In a bid to challenge Hawaii as Taiwan’s leading beach weddings tourism destination, the Department of Tourism and the Manila Economic and Cultural Office (MECO) is promoting Boracay, Palawan, Cebu, Davao, and other island and coastal areas in the Philippines which can more than compete in terms of natural beauty and cost. This was one of the major themes exploited by the DoT and MECO in their attempt to get a bigger slice of the outbound market of Taiwan in time for the long vacation during the Chinese New Year in 2010, said Irineo Reyes, MECO Tourism Director. To promote more travel to the country, both agencies conducted product presentations in Kaohsiung, Taichung and Taipei from October 26-29. and joined the Taipei International Travel Fair (TITF) held at the Taipei World Trade Center last October 30-November 2. The Philippines’ 63-sqm booth at the TITF with a beach wedding theme and a giant video wall showcasing local landmarks was a major draw at the fair with some 4,500 tourism industry players and visitors stopping by to get information materials and meet with their Filipino counterparts. “The beauty of our beaches remains one of our major draws for Taiwanese. Many couples looking to get married abroad do so in Hawaii, but Philippine beaches can more than hold their own, especially when cost is factored in,” said Reyes. Accordingly, he said Boracay tops the list of favorite destination among Taiwanese consumers followed by Cebu, Bohol, Palawan and Manila. Taiwanese also showed interest in dive sites, golf and Filipino schools offering the English language program. This year’s travel fair attracted a bigger delegation from the Philippines headed by DOT Undersecretary for Tourism Planning and Promotions, Eduardo Jarque, Jr,, with the participation of 17 private tourism establishments, including tour operators, and hotel and resort representatives from Manila, Boracay and Davao. Reyes said the Philippine booth and DoT activities generated good business leads for more Taiwanese visits next year. Participants were able to get a total of 221 confirmed bookings for group tours and more than 800 queries were registered during the fair. Meanwhile, a total of 350 travel agents in Taiwan attended the DoT and private tourism officials’ product presentations in Taipei, Kaohsiung, and Taichung, featuring a special segment on Davao’s attractions presented by DoT Director Sonia Garcia of Region 11. Reyes said the newest addition to the various charter flights from Taiwan to the Philippines will be the Philippine Airlines’ Taipei-Kalibo route starting Dec. 9 using 150-seater A320 aircraft. Usec. Jarque met with officials of China Airlines to express his gratitude for the Kaohsiung-Kalibo charter flight which contributes an increasing number of Taiwanese tourists to the Philippines. The DOT also hopes to attract more of the outbound market of Taichung, with a population of 1.1 million Taiwan’s third biggest following Taipei and Kaohsiung. Taichung is the hub of the Central Taiwan Economic Development with an international airport and charter flights to Vietnam, Hong Kong and Korea, and transits 20% of the total outbound passengers from Taiwan. Jarque also expressed his thanks to Mandarin Airlines for launching its Taichung-Kalibo charter flight last October 17. The DoT has pledged to support the charter flight with more promotional activities next year. The tourism executives also met with China Airline officials in Taipei for the possible re-opening of the Taipei-Cebu charter flight. The DoT officials are optimistic the country can claim a bigger share of the Taiwanese tourists pie especially once the major economic power shrugs off the effects of the global slump. Latest figures from Taiwan’s Ministry of Transportation showed that outbound travel from Taiwan in September 2009 dropped by five percent or 625,834 from 657,988 last year. From January to September this year, there was an eight percent drop in outbound travel or 5,448,114 from 6,590,261 travelers in the same period last year. The drop in outbound travel from Taiwan affected many countries in Asia, including the Philippines where the decline was 14% or 77,126 from 90,104 last year. Except for Mainland China and South Korea, other countries recorded bigger drop in Taiwanese arrivals like Brunei, 90.42% or 80 from 835; Thailand, 35% or 119,995 from 129,286; Macao 23.76% or 555,993 from 729,281; Hong Kong 21.57% or 1,737,806 from 2,215,602; Japan, 17.39% or 849,702 arrivals from 1,028,566; and Singapore 15.89% or 111,704 from 129, 286.