Taiwan’s Taitung County Sends Delegation to Japan to Promote Tourism and Breathtaking Scenery

TAITUNG, Taiwan--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Impressed with Taitung’s beautiful mountains and blue ocean, Japanese travel agencies have pledged to bring visitors to the county in southeastern Taiwan by planning tour packages in the future. The tour operators were present at a promotion event in Tokyo from April 10 to 12, which was organized by the Taitung County government to highlight local features such as activities on land, at sea and in the air plus the county’s unique indigenous culture, with the hope of having Taitung included in the itinerary of Japanese tourists coming to Taiwan.

Nearly 30 representatives of Japanese travel businesses attended the event with “Ramble in Taitung” as its theme. With the help of a video presentation and a performance of indigenous song and dance, a delegation from the Taitung County government explained what to expect when traveling in Taitung and travel subsidies offered by both Taiwan’s central government and the local authorities in an effort to promote inbound tourism and increase the number of Japanese visitors to the county.

Taitung’s mountains and ocean, its indigenous culture, environmental art and delicious food are very appealing to potential Japanese visitors, in particular the county’s signature tourism events such as the Taitung East Wave Festival, the Taiwan International Balloon Festival, and Starry Taitung, said Pu Cheng-ming, director of the county government’s Department of Transportation and Tourism Development. It is hoped that the presentation in Tokyo will succeed in helping the Japanese tour operators know more about Taitung, resulting in an increase of travelers from Japan.

The Taitung delegation also called on Nippon Travel Agency (NTA), Japan’s largest tour operator, where the team was welcomed by NTA President Koyano Yoshiteru. After being briefed on the subsidy package offered by the Taitung County and an exchange of views, Koyano said that TECLandArts Festival and the Taiwan International Balloon Festival are both very special and there can be two-way exchanges with Japanese art and culture events as a way to promote travel to Taitung among the Japanese public. He then instructed his staff to start relevant planning so that group travel to Taitung can be realized as soon as possible.

When calling on Japanese travel agencies, the delegation made a special effort to brief them on Taitung’s red oolong tea, hot-air balloon butter cookies and indigenous culture. At the promotion event, the performance of indigenous song and dance and costume tryout allowed the representatives of Japanese travel agencies to, by seeing, smelling and listening, feel the diverse travel experience that Taitung has to offer. Many of the guests who attended the event expressed a willingness to travel to Taitung themselves and to plan for such a journey.