Ma praises Taiwan tourism industry revolution

2015-03-05

President Ma Ying-jeou said March 3 that Taiwan’s tourism industry is on the fast track for success and expects inbound visitor numbers to top 10 million for the first time in 2015.

“Since I took office in May 2008, the annual number of foreign arrivals in Taiwan grew from 3.84 million to 9.91 million last year,” he said. “Inbound tourism revenues also hit NT$437 billion [US$13.95 billion] in 2014, more than double the NT$187.1 billion of six years ago.”

The president, who made the remarks at the launch of the 2015 Tourism Festival at Taipei City’s Grand Hotel, attributed the gains to Taiwan’s picturesque landscape, signature hospitality and sumptuous cuisine.

“Building on our strengths and resources, we have sparked nothing short of a tourism revolution,” he said. “Not only have we achieved exponential growth in foreign arrivals, but increased diversity in our visitor demographics.”

According to Tourism Bureau statistics, Taiwan saw 50 percent growth in South Korean arrivals, trailed by mainland China, New Zealand and Australia. In addition, the difference between outbound and inbound tourist numbers is continuing to narrow, decreasing from a record 5 million to less than 2 million last year.

Going forward, Ma urged the tourism industry not to rest on its laurels, instead broadening its focus to increasing investment, enhancing quality and creating value. “Of the 9.91 million foreign arrivals last year, 34 percent were repeat visitors,” he said, adding that there is still considerable room for further advances.

“A robust tourism industry benefits the bottom lines of direct participants and the entire services sector,” he said. “It is now time for greater public-private sector cooperation to make sure we reach this goal.”

Source: Taiwan Today (http://taiwantoday.tw/ct.asp?xItem=227921&CtNode=413)