Taiwan has talked about increasing its appeal to Western tourists for at least the last 20 years, if not longer. I just don’t see it working. It seems the overwhelming majority of inbound tourists are still ethnic Chinese or Japanese. Almost all Western tourists I’ve spoken to would much rather go to somewhere in SE Asia (Thailand, etc) or Mainland China/Japan, etc.
Not if I can help it.
I just tell them it’s cleaner than HK and the people are nicer.
Arrived in Taiwan in 2012.
Landed in Taichung.
Moved in with my girlfriend.
Girlfriend:“For our first trip I’ll take you to Taipei!”
Sounds neat.
Take a train, go to Taipei.
It looks nice, very different from Western cities.
Girlfriend:“Let’s go to the 101!”
Holy shit that thing’s huge.
Take the lift, go to the top floor.
Girlfriend:“IbisWTF, wait me for a moment, I have to go to toilet…where are they?”
I look around and find the restroom.
The noisiest group of people I’ve ever heard is camping outside the restroom.
Girlfriend:“Oh, they’re Chinese”
Me:“Oh, ok, how can you tell?”
Girlfriend:“From the accent, it’s very different”
Me:“Oh, ok. Wait, what is that lady doing…”
40yo lady picks up her 5/6yo kid.
Takes down his pants.
Lifts him on top of the rubbish bin.
The kid pees inside the rubbish bin placed outside of the public restroom.
Me:“Is that also a way to tell they’re Chinese?”
Girlfriend"…"
Fast forward to 2019.
China bans Chinese tourists to Taiwan.
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I love how you even get the accent down pat.
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China has also put a ban on historic and idol TV dramas.
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It’s important to be accurate!
They have been promoting Taiwan tourism in Australia for years, paid spots on travel shows, and advertisements at the main Sydney underground train stations, as far as I noticed. I remember the advertisements used a particularly retro looking font.
It’s a tough sell, I think they are pitching Taiwan as an adventure destination, to a younger demographic, trouble is NZ is also an adventure holiday destination, only 3 hours away. And as I’m sure you know, NZ is a beautiful country.
When they had a Taiwan spot on a popular national TV travel show, the presenter made a comment, in so many words, about how ugly Taipei was, so Taiwan tourism kind of did their money there.
If Taiwan is serious about pimping its natural beauty destinations like Hualian, then they should invest in some infrastructure. So, for example, people don’t have to walk around with helmets on their heads to see the sights…
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This very much reminds me of a day trip that I took to the other end of Sardinia in 1997. To my great surprise I found that the antipodal village of Caloforte had been infested with the Genovese, who liked to speak loudly in Ligurian Swahili and to do their wee wees. They ate fish too much - like way to much - did not have any dairy products in their risotto, and their Ligurian pizza was not actually pizza at all. Instead it was just bread with tomato sauce and cheese on it . Very different. As a foreigner visiting Sardinia for the weekend this irked me greatly.
This is not that much worse than the numerous Taiwanese in Taiwan who refuse to flush toilet paper down the toilet after they’ve taken a shit. Instead, they throw it in the bin beside the toilet. Its disgusting and barbaric for a so-called developed nation.
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I saw so many Taiwanes pees in the street in front of public toilet. I never understand the negative with Chinese people in Taiwan when local also do the same.
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I remember in New Zealand I saw so many advertisements about Taiwan too, everywhere. But I don’t know if people who come to Taiwan will recommend to others, I went to Nepal because one friend told me, and after that, I recommend every time, lots of friends went because of me and they also keep recommend. But when people ask me about Taiwan is a big meh.
I keep reading teh phrase “this will make the economy worse”… I keep thinking, these people have not seen a truly crappy economy, teh kind where you go hungry, in ages… True, finding a job that pays decently is hard, but there is movement, there is a very active economy at all levels. As much as the big sharks try to squeeze the little people, there is a lot going on. It is not stagnant nor the disaster the media paint it to be.
From Twitter, bit of food -or fuel- for discussion:
im Culpan
@tculpan
·
1h
So, in summary:
A cut in mainland tourism to Taiwan has seen a double-digit increase in visitors from Japan & Korea in past 3yrs.
Japan & Korea combined now send more visitors to Taiwan than mainland China.
They spend more.
That money spent goes more directly to Taiwan’s economy
True: independent travellers do not spend in places where the money goes back to China´s pocket´s.
The night market stall owners interviewed today were saying they are concerned as most of these independent travellers are young people who purchase their stuff.
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Taiwan = industry > everything (especially tourism)
Make industry focus on, inovate in and apply to the eco trend and taiwan can start having these conversations and getting more respect.
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Taiwan is really not a tourist friendly country.
I mean other than Sun Moon Lake or Taipei 101 what else is there?
Taiwan has strong industries, exploit that, and Taiwan makes their money from that. Tourism is really just an afterthought, a byproduct of Taiwan having money.
All the trade expos kinda tells you that…
I mean Thailand and Indonesia has serious tourist attractions but do you really want to live there? Tourist countries are generally not good to live in.
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i’ve seen so many taiwanese peeing in the public toilets, from outside. because they don’t have doors or they just leave the doors open with a full view.
to be fair things are a lot LOT worse in china. the toilets smell like actual death. people have full mobile phone business conversations while shitting. they shit all over the place, i’ve seen one public toilet that was plastered in shit for no good reason. and yea they pee everywhere outside. i saw a woman getting her kid to pee in a cardboard box before. i mean yea its a box but its not water resistant…
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Actually, this is a great place for tourism. Plenty of places to see, different modes of efficient transportation, amenities for all budgets, above all safe.
From hiking at different elevations and environments, to cycling, to adventure, culture trips with aboriginals in Hsinchu, Pintung and Taitong, all kinds of different stuff not just food -beef noodles, pinapple cake- nor CKS hall, Palace Museum and Taipei 101. Think about that, seems like tourism skips a beat and forgets about 99% of Taiwan.
Moreover, the 5 places traditionally promoted and sold to tourists, if you notice, have a secondary agenda, just look that areas like Alishan or Wuling farm are under the Veterans administration, not Tourism Office.
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I got no idea… I just never felt inclined to take tours in Taiwan and most Taiwanese all want to go to Western countries for tourism which is stupid expensive.
As for Alishan or Wuling farm, I can ask my dad about those… he was the head of the VA in the late 80s…
I feel like that’s a mistake. I don’t really see it as an adventure place. And I feel adventurous travelers are not big money spenders in general. Has to be another angle.
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I recall we were having exactly this type of conversation on Forumosa around 10 years ago, about Taiwan’s efforts to attract western tourists. And we’ll probably have it again in 10 years with little or no progress in terms of Taiwan’s appeal to western tourists. Its deja vu all over again. Its like saying 10 years ago that Dulan has huge potential, saying now that it has huge potential, and saying the same in 2030. Always has potential but never fulfilled. Below is just a small sample of what has been discussed.
i think taiwan is actually a good destination. better than china minus the tourist sites in beijing. and china gets a bunch of people.
my family have visited me here several times and they love it. of course i am an amazing guide so that has something to do with it but theres lots of interesting stuff. the food is good and theres things like night markets, hot pot and bbq restaurants which are way more fun than back home. the culture is different and fun. its super easy to get around, either MRT, trains, buses, youbike or taxis. theres lots of natural sights. theres even a couple of amazing 20 minute hikes within the city. its also easy to get to other cities as taiwan is so small.
lets face it taiwan isn’t gonna be thailand. taiwanese people do not care for beaches. its not even going to be singapore or hong kong. the standards are just lower. but it still has a lot of good points.
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