TAIWAN’S MICE Promotion Program (Meet Taiwan) will intensify efforts in China this year by venturing into cities eligible for its FIT programme.
Two sales missions are scheduled in 2015 with the first held this week covering Urumqi, Shanghai and Suzhou, followed by Harbin and Beijing in August.
A Meet Taiwan spokesman said that as there are still some restrictions for Chinese FITs travelling to Taiwan, first- and second-tier cities are being targeted to showcase Taiwan.
“We’ll hold roadshows and fam tours in China,” the spokesman added.
Patti Tang, director of Willy Event, which specialises in meeting and incentive traffic from China, said: “Chinese MICE is set to grow further this year due to many applications as well as proactive promotional efforts from Taiwan.
“I am a participant of the sales mission to China this month because many Chinese cities have not yet opened up and Meet Taiwan will connect us with local trade commissions, tourism bureaus and potential buyers.
“Chinese travellers are still not familiar with Taiwan so our workshops will help raise their awareness.
“Taiwan is also regarded by the Chinese as a once-in-a-lifetime destination. In the past, many of them wanted to come but couldn’t so it is full of mystery for them. Indeed, we offer a diverse range of tourism products,” Tang added.
Meanwhile, from April 15, 11 more Chinese cities will be granted FIT access to Taiwan. The cities are Haikou, Hohhot, Lanzhou, Yinchuan, Changzhou, Zhoushan, Huizhou, Weihai, Longyan, Guilin and Xuzhou.
This fifth round of approval brings the total number of eligible Chinese cities to 47. As of end-February, FIT traffic surged 125.8 per cent year-on-year to 2.2 million.
Hohhot-based Peace Tour general manager, Lv Fei, said Taiwan is a popular destination for MICE and added: “Unlike south China, our land-locked location in north China means there is no access to the sea, which our clients crave for.
“It’s very easy for us to push Taiwan given positive feedback such as reasonable prices, excellent F&B offerings and clean hotels.
“Our incentive/FIT group size on average is fewer than 20 people.”
