Photos taken December 14, 2012 shows sunset views at Tamsui District, Xinbei City, Taiwan. (Xinhua)
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Showing posts with label Taiwan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Taiwan. Show all posts
Wednesday, 16 December 2015
Sunset view at Tamsui District of Xinbei, Taiwan
Photos taken December 14, 2012 shows sunset views at Tamsui District, Xinbei City, Taiwan. (Xinhua)
Friday, 30 October 2015
Carnival Cruise Lines to make Keelung a permanent base
The news comes as authorities announce that Carnival Cruise Lines has decided to make Keelung a permanent base for its Sapphire Princess liner from May next year. The Sapphire Princess can carry over 2,600 passengers and will stop by Kagoshima, Nagasaki and Okinawa on its Japan cruise.
Star Cruises, Royal Caribbean International and Costa Cruises have already made Keelung one of their bases. Carnival is the fourth to do so.
Bruce Krumerine, vice CEO of the British-American cruise operator, visited the harbor's facilities on Oct. 28, the second time he has visited with the harbor authorities with his entourage. Krumerine is also considering to have the liner Sun Princess permanently based in Keelung.
A harbor official said Keelung's cruise traffic has been growing in 2013 because cruise operators have been seeking to compensate declining business in Europe and North America with new opportunities in Asia.
The number of passengers for unscheduled cruises in past years was around 60,000 persons each year. But this year will see about 150,000 passengers.
Star Cruise, which operates scheduled cruises each year in Taiwan, has also applied for nine unscheduled cruises.
With Taiwan gradually opening its market to China, cruise liners will also see their business grow, local media said.
Source: Want China Times
Monday, 5 October 2015
Hawaii looks to cash in on Taiwan's new visa-waiver status
The Hawaii Visitors and Convention Bureau's office in Taipei said the seven-day tour will depart from Taiwan Nov. 1 — the first day Taiwan's visa-waiver status takes effect — and will cost under NT$70,000 (US$2,383.15) per person.
The tour will take participants to Pearl Harbor, Diamond Head and other famous destinations, the office said.
The United States Department of Homeland Security announced Taiwan's visa waiver membership on Tuesday. Under the program, Taiwan's passport holders will be granted visa-free stays of up to 90 days in the United States.
Lo Tsai-ling, marketing director at California-based Kirk Vacation, praised Taiwan's inclusion in the program and expected that the number of Taiwanese tourists in the US will increase by 15-20% in the early stages after the program takes effect.
The increase will be even bigger if airlines and hotels offer more promotional deals, he said.
Ho Chia-yen, director at Ho Ho Travel in Los Angeles, said many tours to the US West Coast that target Taiwanese tourists have lowered their prices by 10% to attract business.
In New York, Taiwanese expatriates who operate B&Bs there said that since the announcement was made, they have received many more inquiries than usual from potential Taiwanese tourists and expected Taiwan's admission to help their businesses.
One B&B operator in Queens, who identified himself as Steven, said many backpackers from Taiwan have chosen to go to Europe instead of the United States in recent years because they can enter the Schengen area visa free while having to pay NT$4,800 (US$163.7) for a US visa.
He predicted that many of them are now likely to travel to the US, and he expected B&Bs operated by Taiwanese and Chinese expatriates to benefit because they are relatively inexpensive and the owners can speak Chinese.
Source: Want China Times
Saturday, 26 September 2015
Taipei, Los Angeles and Singapore top travel search growth list
It shows that Taipei, Los Angeles and Singapore have recorded the greatest increase in search numbers.
The destinations have one thing in common - they provide excellent shopping, a boon to Chinese tourists who are also taking advantage of easier visa applications and an appreciating currency.
According to Tianxu, Taipei has been in the top 10 for two years, with a 78.9 percent increase in search numbers in 2013 compared to last year. In June, residents of 13 more cities on the Chinese mainland were eligible to travel to Taiwan as individual tourists.
Taiwan is also a perfect place for shopping, not only for its specialty items such as ceramics, delicacies and tea, but also for the shopping attractions such as Taipei 101 Mall.
To attract Chinese travelers, Singapore has increased flights between the two countries, especially from the second and third-tier cities in China. Diehard fans of shopping know about Orchard Road, which features international?high-end brands and retail outlets.
As the gateway to the US West Coast, Los Angeles is the first stop for most Chinese visitors. Searches to the city from the Chinese mainland showed a 90.8 percent rise from 2012 to 2013.
Source: By Xu Lin (chinadaily.com.cn)
Friday, 21 August 2015
Hit the Night Market for Food in Taiwan
Tuesday, 26 May 2015
Amazing Sun Moon Lake
Thursday, 30 April 2015
Taiwan opened to more tourists
A new travel policy will begin on Saturday to allow residents of six mainland cities - Chongqing, Tianjin, Nanjing, Hangzhou, Guangzhou and Chengdu - to visit Taiwan individually, not as part of tour groups.
Also on Saturday, 66 individual tourists will leave from Guangzhou, Hangzhou and Nanjing to travel to Taiwan, according to Taiwan tourism authorities.
The deal, agreed by tourism authorities from both sides of the Taiwan Straits, is the latest change meant to encourage more mainland tourists to go to the island. In an experiment last year, residents of three mainland cities - Beijing, Shanghai and Xiamen, in Fujian province - were allowed to make the same types of trips.
About 74,000 people from the mainland have applied so far to travel individually in Taiwan, and more than 400 people applied each day on average in the first three months of the year to take the trips, according to China News Service.
Yue Xuejiao, a 27-year-old travel lover in Chongqing who has been to South Korea, Australia and many countries in the Southeast Asia, said she is ready to explore another overseas destination - Taiwan.
The place Yue has dreamed about going to is Jiufen, also known as Jioufen, a village in the hills near Keelung, in northeast Taiwan. Two years ago, she had met a couple of Taiwan travelers who had sent her a postcard showing a view of distinct, old houses. It was the setting used in A City of Sadness, a Taiwan movie that won a Golden Lion, the highest award at the Venice Film Festival.
"I was looking forward to going there but never made it because I could only visit the island in tour groups," the Chongqing resident said.
In the past, many of the people who went to Taiwan as part of group tours were middle-aged or elderly. But as the opportunity to travel there individually becomes open to more and more, the young are the ones showing the greatest enthusiasm for the trips, according to travel agencies in Guangzhou.
Most of the tourists who have signed up for the new travel option are between the ages of 20 and 35. Many said they are traveling with friends to learn about trends in music, books and design or to go shopping and bicycling on the island, according to Nanhu International Travel Service, one of the six travel agencies in Guangzhou permitted to arrange individual tours to Taiwan.
Saturday will see the journey start for the first batch of 15 tourists who, under the new policy, have signed up for a tour of the island through the Guangdong branch of China Travel Services.
"This policy will give a boost to less-traveled scenic spots and specialty routes," said Wang Jun, deputy director of the agency.
Qiao Huaxiang, manager of the Taiwan-bound travel business at the Chongqing Yangtze River Traveling Co, said individual tours, as a supplement to group tours, can help to make trips to the island more frequent.
"We recommend that tourists visit Taiwan the first time in groups to gain a general understanding and then take individual tours the next time," he said.
He said Taiwan has now become Chongqing residents' favorite travel destination.
Public security bureaus in the six cities said individual residents have to obtain an entry permit before they go to Taiwan, which allows them to stay for up to 15 days on the island. Current plans also call for the residents of four other mainland cities - Jinan, Xi'an, Fuzhou and Shenzhen - to be permitted to visit Taiwan individually before the end of the year.
Thursday, 16 April 2015
Taiwan ramps up its tourism efforts, starting in Thailand
Thailand is an interesting market for Taiwan because the number of Thai visitors is expected to grow by at least 10% this year.
The Taiwan Tourism Bureau forecasts the number of Thai tourists visiting Taiwan will be 107,483 this year, up from 97,712 last year. It also expects Thai arrivals to reach 250,000 in the next few years.
The bureau recently organised a familiarisation trip for 38 Thai travel agents and the media.
Cheng Ying-huei, the bureau’s deputy director for international affairs, said many countries have been shifting their focus to tourism.
It sees potential to increase the Thai tourist market and will introduce its tourism website in the Thai language early next year.
Ms Cheng said the bureau will continue to hold familiarisation trips, not only for Thailand but also Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam and Australia, with an aim to see a tourism recovery soon.
The bureau is implementing Project Vanguard for Excellence in tourism (2009-2014) and the Tourism Optimization through Quality/Quantity Upgrading portion of the Executive Yuan’s Economic Power-Up Plan with an aim of building tourism environment focusing on both quality and quantity.
Besides, it also uses “Time for Taiwan” as the core promotional slogan to attract international travellers.
Charoen Wangananont, adviser and former president of the Thai Travel Agents Association, said tourism boomed in Taiwan two decades ago but began to slip over the past 10 years when the island shifted its focus to industrial development.
Now that Taiwan is shifting back the emphasis to tourism, it has improved many tourist destinations and Thai travel agents see opportunities in selling tour packages to Taiwan again.
However, Mr Charoen said tour operators believe that the Taiwan government should step up its marketing campaign to attract more Thai travellers because South Korea and Japan are very popular destinations.
He said Taiwan must present its tourism products such as shopping destinations and temples to meet the lifestyle of Thais.
Thai operators wishing to sell tour packages to Taiwanese tourists should present interesting stories related to destinations to attract customers.
Mr Charoen projects that 20,000 to 30,000 packages to Taiwan will be sold this year. Prices start from 30,000 baht for five days and four nights.
Source: by Chadamas Chinmaneevong, The Bangkok Post
Friday, 3 April 2015
Taiwan doubles quota for solo Chinese tourists
TAIPEI — Taiwan will double its quota of independent Chinese tourists to allow up to 1,000 visitors a day, the government announced, less than a year after lifting a ban on solo travel from the mainland.
The move, effective from April 28, will help promote friendship and tourism, the Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council said in a statement, adding that it "to some extent, will also help stabilise and facilitate ties between the two sides of the Taiwan Straits".
Travel between Taiwan and the Chinese mainland stopped at the end of a civil war in 1949. But the ban on solo Chinese travellers was lifted in June last year in a sign of warming ties between the two bitter rivals.
Previously, mainland tourists had only been allowed to visit Taiwan as part of official tour groups amid fears the Chinese might overstay their visas to work illegally on the island.
Government tallies indicate that as of March 26, more than 56,000 Chinese have visited Taiwan as individual tourists since the ban was lifted.
While currently only people from Beijing, Shanghai and Xiamen are allowed to visit, under the new measures independent travellers from six more cities will be admitted, with another four cities to e added to the list later in the year.
Travel between the two sides has boomed since President Ma Ying-jeou of Taiwan's China-friendly Kuomintang party came to power in 2008, pledging to boost trade links and tourism.
In 2011, more than 1.78 million Chinese visited Taiwan -- most of them on organised group tours, the rest on business, family and study trips -- a rise of 9.4 percent from a year before, making China the biggest source of visitors to the island, according to the Tourism Bureau.
Beijing still regards Taiwan part of its territory awaiting to reunification, by force if necessary, even though the island has ruled itself for more than six decades.
Thursday, 26 March 2015
Kenting National Park in Taiwan
Founded on January 1st, 1984 and located on the Hengchun Peninsula of Pingtung County, the park is also the southernmost park and the only tropical one in all of Taiwan. It covers an area of 333 square kilometers, including 181 square kilometers of land and 152 square kilometers of sea. Featuring scenic mountains, tropical forest, breathtaking beaches and coral reefs, the park attracts thousands of travelers both from home and abroad every season. (Source: china.org.cn)
Wednesday, 7 January 2015
Mainland tourists to Taiwan hit record high
BEIJING - Chinese mainland visitors to Taiwan topped 1.97 million in 2012, up 57.6 percent year on year, hitting a record high, the cross-Straits tourism authority said Sunday.The Association for Tourism Exchange Across the Taiwan Straits said more than 1.78 million were group tourists, with the rest being individuals.
Group visitors rose nearly 46 percent year on year, and individual tourists surged 553 percent in 2012 from the previous year, according to the association.
Mainland visitors accounted for about 36 percent of Taiwan's total inbound tourists in 2012, ranking this group first, according to relevant departments of Taiwan.
Taiwan opened for group tourists from the Chinese mainland in 2008, and for individuals in 2011.
Source: Xinhua
Friday, 2 January 2015
Mainland Travelers Granted Landing Permits to Taiwan's Outlying Islands
The landing permit enables mainland visitors to stay in the offshore counties for up to 15 days. They are still banned from traveling to other parts of Taiwan without an entry permit.
According to figures released by the Kinmen County government, more than 1.5 million passengers have traveled by ferry in 2014 from Kinmen to the mainland's Fujian Province, 10.8 percent higher than in 2013.
Kinmen is about 10 kilometers away from Fujian's Xiamen City, making ferries the most convenient way to commute between the two destinations.
The landing permit is the latest measure to attract mainland residents to Taiwan. Taiwan began to open the door to individual tourists from mainland cities on June 28, 2011, and the mainland is currently the largest source of tourists to the island.
Source: xinhua via want china times
Taiwan's Taoyuan Airport sees Asia's highest growth in travelers over 2014
Over 35 million travelers came through Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport in 2014 for a growth rate of 11.4% over last year, which the airport operator said was the biggest growth in Asia over the year.
The passenger volume was also the highest the airport has ever recorded, said Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on Wednesday.
The company touted the achievement as the result of efforts to improve facilities and services, saying it has scored "a beautiful record" in pursuit of growth in passenger volume, facility upgrades, runway renovation and work on a third terminal.
The company added that its newly-renovated first terminal, the top prize winner of the Taiwan Architecture Award for 2014, was one of the most "checked-in" spots on Facebook in Taiwan.
This year, Taoyuan Airport was ranked the world's fifth best airport in Asia by the Guide to Sleeping in Airports website, 10th in Skytrax's rankings of best airports in Asia, and 18th in Skytrax's rankings of best airports in the world.
Source: Want China Times
Wednesday, 17 December 2014
Mainland individual tourists to Taiwan up 123%
Office spokesperson Fan Liqing said on Wednesday that this represented growth of 123 percent compared to the same period last year.
Taiwan opened its doors to group tourists from the mainland in 2008 and to individual tourists in June 2011. According to statistics from the Taiwan side, of all mainland tourists that visited Taiwan, only 51 did not return home.
Fan's comments came in response to questions about mainlanders choosing to stay in Taiwan to pursue love interests.
"Love affairs and marriages between young people of the two sides are increasing. Sometimes people follow their hearts," added Fan, saying that the two sides will strengthen cooperation to facilitate exchange and contact between the people across the Strait.
Source: xinhua via china daily
Friday, 6 June 2014
Hong Kong Airlines Warned of Possible Security Threat
Taiwan's Aviation Police Bureau said Friday that it received an alert on Wednesday that a woman may be planning to board a flight operated by Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd. or its China-focused unit, Hong Kong Dragon Airlines Ltd., with a bomb in the next few days.
"We will continue to work closely with the relevant authorities and have reminded our frontline teams to remain vigilant as usual," a Cathay Pacific spokeswoman said.
A Taiwanese aviation official who declined to be named didn't offer more details on the warning. "We are still investigating the claim and its primary source. We aren't speculating whether it's a credible threat or not," the official said, adding airports in Taiwan usually receive more than 100 such claims every year. Taiwan's National Security Bureau wasn't immediately available to comment.
Hong Kong police said they had no solid intelligence to show the city was a target of terrorism and the "moderate" alert level would remain in effect.
The city's airport operator said it was made aware of the warning and that flight operations at Hong Kong International Airport remain normal.
Hong Kong Airlines Chief Operating Officer Jeff Sun said his airline has received intelligence from various sources, including Taiwan authorities, about a possible bomb threat, and that it has sent out alerts to its ground staff and flight crews to raise their awareness of in-flight security.
The warnings follow a string of attacks in China targeting civilians that Beijing has labeled acts of terrorism. The incidents have increased scrutiny on the western Xinjiang region of China, which has a large Muslim ethnic population. The warnings also come after tens of thousands of people in Hong Kong rallied on Wednesday to mark the anniversary of the 1989 crackdown on student protesters in Beijing.
Source: Wall Street Journal by Joanne Chiu and Aries Poon
Monday, 26 May 2014
Fewer visit Hong Kong during holiday as more opt for Taiwan
The tourism authority of Taiwan said 32,000 individual trips were made from the mainland to Taiwan, a 33 percent year-on-year rise. There were 9,864 visitors who were not part of tours.
That's more than double compared with the same period last year.
That's more than double compared with the same period last year.
The number of mainland travelers to Hong Kong fell for the first time since the special administrative region opened self-guided tours to mainland residents in 2003.
"The decline of Hong Kong is not the only reason for the rise of Taiwan," Jiang Zhiduan, director of the Taiwan Strait Tourism Association's Beijing's office, said.
It is a market choice, he added.
Because of demand, Taiwan increased its quota for independent mainland tourists to the island from 3,000 to 4,000 a day from April 16.
A rise to 5,000 will be considered.
Mainland travel agencies also see business opportunities and are investing more into the market.
"It is expected that almost 100,000 self-guided travelers will visit Taiwan through Ctrip.com this year," said Xu Zhiyun, general manager of the outbound tourism department of Ctrip.com International Ltd, a Chinese online travel agent.
During the May Day holiday, Ctrip's sales of products to Taiwan grew 100 percent compared with the same period last year, he said.
"Taiwan is already one of the most popular destinations among mainland travelers," Xu said.
Some other travel agencies forecast the next peak period to Taiwan will come during the Dragon Boat Festival in June. Seasonally the price is relatively low.
The attraction of Hong Kong, the traditional destination for mainland travelers, is fading.
Statistics from the Immigration department of Hong Kong show that in the first day of the holiday in May, the number of mainland travelers was only 142,505 individual trips, down 11.88 percent compared with the same day last year.
During the whole three-day holiday, 388,070 mainland travelers visited Hong Kong, down from 394,476 the previous year. That may be due to an online video of a fight between several Hong Kong residents and a mainland couple whose child urinated in public at a crowded commercial area on April 15.
Some Hong Kong residents complained about travelers from the mainland taking over tourism areas in the city. Some mainlanders said they would boycott Hong Kong.
Hong Kong remains an important destination for mainland outbound tourism because of the convenient visa process and transport.
"Among the destinations in greater China, Hong Kong is still top," a manager from a domestic travel agency, who declined to be named, said.
The absolute number visiting Hong Kong remains much higher than other regions, he said.
Hong Kong is still one of the most popular destinations during May Day, the National Tourism Administration said.
Source: By Wang Wen (China Daily)
Thursday, 1 May 2014
Mainland tourists to Taiwan up 45% in Q1
Chinese mainland visitors to Taiwan reached 767,400 in the first quarter of 2014, up 45 percent year on year, a Taiwan affairs office spokeswoman said on Wednesday.
The number of individual tourists from the Chinese mainland to Taiwan hit 252,200 in the first quarter, a rise of 176 percent year on year, thanks to the mainland's efforts to make cross-Straits travel more convenient, said Fan Liqing, spokeswoman for the State Council Taiwan Affairs Office, at a press conference.
Mainland people who signed up for organized group package tours to Taiwan reached 515,200 in the first quarter, Fan said.
The past four months have witnessed a continuous increase in the number of mainland visitors to Taiwan, according to the spokeswoman.
She also noted that mainland tourists have shown enthusiasm for travel to Taiwan for the upcoming May Day holiday, citing statistics from Taiwan that tours to the island have been fully booked in advance.
Mainland tourists are encouraged to show good manners while sightseeing in Taiwan, Fan said, adding that both sides should try to ensure the safety of mainland tourists.
Source: xinhua via china daily
Wednesday, 2 April 2014
Formosan cypress forest in Taiwan's Ali Mountain
Photos taken March 28, 2014- Formosan cypress forest in the Ali Mountain in Chiayi County, southeast Taiwan. The Ali Mountain in central Taiwan is home to an abundance of Formosan cypresses (Chamaecyparis formosensis), which are an endemic species.
Source: Xinhua
Sunday, 30 March 2014
Yuanzai enjoys outdoor activities at Taipei Zoo in China's Taiwan
Giant panda cub "Yuanzai" during its outdoor activities at the Taipei Zoo in Taipei, Taiwan, March 20, 2014
Source: Xinhua
Tuesday, 18 March 2014
Green Island in Taitung, Taiwan
Photo taken March 14, 2014- Green Island in Taitung, Taiwan. The Green Island is a small volcanic island off the eastern coast of Taiwan. The island, which has an area of about 16 square kilometers, is well-known for its scenery
Residents ride motorcycles after work on Green Island in Taitung, Taiwan, March 14, 2014. The Green Island is a small volcanic island off the eastern coast of Taiwan. The island, which has an area of about 16 square kilometers, is well-known for its scenery
Photo taken March 13, 2014- The "Camel Stone" on Green Island in Taitung, Taiwan. The Green Island is a small volcanic island off the eastern coast of Taiwan. The island, which has an area of about 16 square kilometers, is well-known for its scenery
Photo taken March 14, 2014- Green Island in Taitung, Taiwan. The Green Island is a small volcanic island off the eastern coast of Taiwan. The island, which has an area of about 16 square kilometers, is well-known for its scenery
Photo taken March 14, 2014- Green Island in Taitung, Taiwan. The Green Island is a small volcanic island off the eastern coast of Taiwan. The island, which has an area of about 16 square kilometers, is well-known for its scenery
Photo taken March 14, 2014- Green Island in Taitung, Taiwan. The Green Island is a small volcanic island off the eastern coast of Taiwan. The island, which has an area of about 16 square kilometers, is well-known for its scenery
Source: Xinhua