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Taiwan, Japan set
target for yearly reciprocal visits
Staff writer, with CNA
Taiwan and Japan have established a new benchmark for the number of visitors
traveling between both sides, setting a target of 4 million a year by 2016,
Taiwan”¦s Tourism Bureau said.
Greeted by a video of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, about 200 travel
representatives from the two countries set the goal at an annual tourism meeting
that took place in Japan”¦s Mie Prefecture on Friday.
Travel between Taiwan and Japan reached an all-time high last year, with more
than 2.99 million visits. About 1.43 million were Japanese tourists traveling to
Taiwan, up 10.6 percent from the previous year, according to the bureau”¦s
statistics.
The increase in travelers was a result of an increased number of direct flights
and diversified travel packages, the bureau said.
A growing number of innovative tourism campaigns have also contributed to the
market, including partnerships between landmark skyscrapers in each country,
bureau officials said.
Earlier this month, the Taipei 101 Observatory in the nation”¦s tallest building
and the Tokyo Skytree, the Japanese capital”¦s highest building, launched a
cooperation deal aimed at boosting visitor numbers. Visitors to the Taipei 101
Observatory with an entrance ticket ending in the number 101, or every 634,000th
tourist to the Tokyo Skytree, can win souvenirs from both towers.
In April, Taiwan and Japan signed a railway tourism project offering reciprocal
train services under a ticket-exchange program.
Cheng Yi-ping (¾G¾ŠµÓ), section chief at the bureau”¦s International Travel
Division, said there will be more similar initiatives in the near future.
Japan”¦s NHK Culture Center is to hold a fair in Taiwan in November to enhance
cultural understanding between the two nations, while Taiwan”¦s National Palace
Museum is to hold exhibitions in Tokyo and Fukuoka next year, Cheng added.
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