By Bernie Cahiles-Magkilat
Meet Taiwan, the promotion program organized by the Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA), has set a Philippine roadshow to further promote the country as global travel destination.
In a statement, the “Meet Taiwan 2019” roadshow will be held in Malaysia, Vietnam and the Philippines from June 16 to 22, featuring top incentive travel suppliers from Taiwan, travel agencies, venue, hotels, and city governments.
The Philippine leg of the roadshow will be held on June 21, 2019 to connect Filipino business travellers with Taiwanese MICE partners and introduce Taiwan’s excellent MICE (meetings, incentives, conventions, exhibitions) environment discussions, networking sessions and face-to-face interface with Philippine travel and trade industry stakeholders.
According to 2018 tourism statistics from Taiwan’s Tourism Bureau, visitors from Southeast Asia have increased to 2.43 million people, accounting for a 21.95 percent proportion of the total number of inbound visitors to Taiwan, increasing about 13.71 percent over 2017.
Among the top 10 countries of visitors, the Philippines increased the most, by 44.13 percent, followed by Vietnam by 28.03 percent. Malaysia remains in the first place. Taiwan has been vigorously establishing a friendly environment for Muslims, particularly attracting countries with large Muslim populations. The Global Muslim Travel Index 2019 ranks Taiwan as third among the most popular countries for Muslims to visit.
The Taiwan government has also established a flexible visa policy for visitors from Southeast Asia. There are now visa-free services for countries such as Malaysia and the Philippines. Moreover, a conditional visa-free service is also available for countries such as Indonesia and Vietnam.