More Pinoys head to Taiwan for vacation

Taiwan Tourism Bureau KL Office director Abe Chou, speaking during a travel workshop in Cebu on Oct. 17, 2018, says they are expecting more Filipinos to travel to Taiwan by the end of this year because of his country’s visa-free policy for Filipinos.

More and more Filipinos are flying to Taiwan for vacation.

With the Taiwanese government’s visa-free policy for Filipinos and more flights opening up, they are expecting even more Filipinos including Cebuanos to visit the country.

According to Abe Chou, director of the Taiwan Tourism Bureau KL Office, a total of 290,000 Filipinos visited their country in 2017.

“Because now it’s visa-free, it’s very important to attract more Filipinos to Taiwan. This year, we target over 400,000 Filipinos going to Taiwan.

Taiwan is very near and we have four seasons,” he said.

Chou and other officials of the Taiwan Tourism Bureau were in Cebu last Wednesday evening to hold a travel workshop, which was attended by representatives from different airlines and local tour agencies.

Cebu, being the second major hub in the country, is one of the major focus of the Taiwanese government in terms of attracting more tourists in their country.

The Taiwanese government has set aside 20 million Taiwan dollars (or around US$600,000) for this year to fund tourism promotions activities in the Philippines alone.

According to Chou, from January to August 2018 alone, they have already recorded 285,000 Filipino visitors in
Taiwan.

This is a 57.2 percent increase compared to the same period in 2017.

With the slogan “Time for Taiwan,” the Taiwanese government aims to attract tourists into the country with their good food and spots for shopping as well as their other tourist sites.

They are also promoting their leisure farms as the country has a total of 320 leisure farms, which provide wellness away from the city.

“Manila and Cebu (are the focus). It’s a big hub. Many Taiwanese also come to Cebu to transfer to different islands. It’s very important for Taiwan,” he said.

Taiwanese arrivals in CV also rose

Based on data culled from the Department of Tourism in Central Visayas (DOT-7), more Taiwanese tourists are also entering the region.

Taiwanese tourist arrivals in Central Visayas recorded the second biggest increase in 2017 compared to 2016. They are second only to China.

In 2017, a total of 71,739 Taiwanese tourists visited the region, compared to only 42,261 in 2016. This represents a 69.75 percent increase year-on-year.

Taiwan is only 2 hours and 45 minutes away from Cebu by plane.

Local airlines already fly direct from Cebu to Taipei in Taiwan.

Just recently, Tigerair Taiwan has also announced that they are launching a direct route from Taipei to Cebu starting December 1, 2018.

This will be their first destination in the Philippines.