2018-09-07

Expanding the Southbound Market- First Priority for Taiwan in IT&CMA


      To get Taiwan more exposure in the international incentive travel, meetings and events industry, the Taiwan Tourism Bureau (TTB) is teaming up with MEET TAIWAN of the Bureau of Foreign Trade (BOFT), Taipei City Government and Kaohsiung City Government to build up the “Taiwan Pavilion” at the Incentive Travel & Conventions, Meetings Asia (IT&CMA 2018) from Sept. 18-20 in Bangkok, Thailand. The highlight of IT&CMA this year is its first day education event, which will feature a CEO Cruise panel discussion and an experts’ exchanges on making the case for MICE cruises.
According to the Taiwan Tourism Bureau, the government has implemented many programs under the New Southbound Policy, such as simplifying visa requirements for ASEAN and South Asian tourists, promoting Taiwan tourism through different channels, and creating a Muslim-friendly travel environment. Since the New Southbound Policy is a crucial part of Taiwan's economic and trade strategy to strengthen wide-ranging the relationship between Taiwan and the nations of ASEAN and South Asia as well as New Zealand and Australia, it will make a lot of sense for Taiwan to expand the business travel market at IT&CMA 2018. Moreover, Taiwan’s government is providing sufficient facilities and administrative support to inbound meeting and incentive travel groups. The Taiwan Tourism Bureau and MEET TAIWAN has released favorable incentives to recruit foreign incentive tours and meetings to Taiwan. It’s offering rewards from the bidding to hosting phase, according to the size of the group and event type.
This year the organizer announced that IT&CMA 2018 will feature the debut of the region’s first-ever Asian MICE Cruise Conference on Sept. 18. The Editor of TTGmice and Group Editor of TTG Travel Trade Publishing, Karen Yue said: “The cruise industry is booming and MICE is undoubtedly the next big thing for the sector.” According to 2017 Asia Cruise Trends released by Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA), short sailings keep dominating cruises taken by Asian passengers. As the second largest market in Asia for short cruise trips, Taiwan’s market share accounts for 7.6% of the Asian region. Therefore, how to incorporate the cruise industry with the MICE industry in Taiwan will be an important issue in the future. Taiwan has implemented many new visa wavier policies and encouraged business travel to Taiwan. With a great location, strong economy and diverse culture, Taiwan has a promising future to attract more business visitors via the “MICE Cruise industry.”
This year, the Taiwan Pavilion is offering events including: the official Media Briefing and Destination Presentation during the exhibition;“Go Tasting Taiwan”- providing food from a Michelin-Starred Restaurant, Din Tai Fung dumplings and famous Taiwanese CoCo pearl milk tea; and a cultural experience event called Sugar Painting. We welcome you to visit the Taiwan Pavilion at C2 during IT&CMA and discover the beauty of this island! The Taiwan Tourism Bureau will be at your service.