Taichung City Government Tourism Office Director-General Hsiao-chi Lin and representatives from related travel agent associations in Taichung visited tour operators in Hong Kong today (29th) to sign 2 tourism MOUs with them. Furthermore, tourism promotion meetings were held, allowing Taiwanese tour operators to take to the stage to introduce the latest tourism intelligence in Taiwan. Their presentation received positive feedback from the Hong Kong tour operators. According to Director General Lin, the key to developing Taichung’s economy using tourism lies in attracting repeat visitors from Hong Kong and Macau, therefore it is hoped that this will strengthen tourism marketing efforts of Hong Kong and Macau tour operators in Taichung and Taiwan. In turn, the aim is to materialize the vision of economic and tourism development.

According to Director General Lin, statistics from MOTC, Executive Yuan reveal that Taichung is the only outstanding city out of six largest cities in the country that has achieved positive growth in the number of visitors arriving in Taiwan during 2015 and 2017, from 10.19 times per 100 persons to 12.34 times per 100 persons. This illustrates that the diversity of tourism resources in Taichung’s mountain, coastal, central and urban areas are gradually becoming more popular and well known among the public.
In particular, flight from Taichung to Hong Kong is merely 90 minutes, and there are 8 direct flights daily. From January to November, the number of Hong Kong and Macau travelers seeking accommodation in Taichung has risen by 2.22% to become the second largest source of travelers in Taichung City, demonstrating the importance of friendship between Taichung and Hong Kong.

Director General Lin commented that Travel Expert and Lotus Tours are iconic travel agents in Hong Kong. Besides signing tourism MOU with these 2 tour operators, the most important goal is to listen to advice from industry operators and use them as a reference for future tourism marketing collaborations in Honk Kong and Macau.

The Founder of Travel Expert Hsing-fen Kao Cheng indicated that Taichung’s gourmet food and shopping are extremely appealing to self-service travelers, especially 3 days and 2 nights itineraries. Since Hong Kong citizens are keen sports tourism travelers as well as marathon and cycling, therefore in the future it is advised to publish gourmet, shopping, amusement, and theme booklets for Hong Kong and Macau self-service travelers. In addition, there is an abundance of emerging tourist attractions in the urban and coastal regions of Taichung, hence in the future, it is hoped to promote cruise ship tourism in Taichung so that travelers from Hong Kong and Macau can experience the glamor of Taichung, something that is unique to that of Keelung and Kaohsiung.

According to Lotus Tours Director Chung-hang Yu, Taichung offers outstanding living convenience, and it is hoped to reinforce media promotion and marketing in Taichung, and generate developments in MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences, and exhibitions) and tourism industry.
Moreover, Director General Lin also launched a tourism promotion meeting involving 50 tour operators and media in Hong Kong, strongly promoting 2018 Taichung flora expo. With coordination from Taiwan Tourism Bureau HK Director Hsin-I Chou and assistance from China Airlines Hong Kong Office General Manager Wan-chun Chung, more flights to Taichung will be made available for travelers from Hong Kong and Macau.

Deputy Director Lin emphasized that the key to developing Taichung’s economy using tourism lies in attracting repeat visitors from Hong Kong and Macau, therefore besides official visits and signing cooperation MOUs, Tourism Bureau, MOTC also helped to invite over 50 members of the media, airline, and travel industry to attend the Taichung tourism promotion meeting, so as to engage in further exchanges and understand the changing needs of Hong Kong and Macau travelers. Apart from grasping tourism trends, it is hoped to consolidate the strength of the central government, local government and the private sector to repackage local tourism resources in Taichung and reintroduce the beauty of Taichung to friends from Hong Kong and Macau through diverse marketing channel.
Tourism Office Director and Hong Kong tour operators signing an MOU