Foreword

Experiencing Taiwan's Local Vitality during Small Town Ramble Year

Tourism can be thought of as a place where joyful dreams are born. It’s a joint production weaving together "dining, lodging, touring, shopping and travel" in a way that endures within the happy memories that visitors bring home. The Taiwan Tourism Bureau (TTB) is in charge of national tourism development, and is dedicated to optimizing the success of tourism-related industries, providing guidance, and developing new tourism markets. Internationally, the TTB has opened up new source markets and revitalized inbound tourism to Taiwan with innovative publicity campaigns and tour products. These efforts helped lift the number of inbound visitors to Taiwan in 2019 to more than 11.86 million, up 7% from 2018. This record high number marked the fifth consecutive year that Taiwan has drawn over 10 million visitors. Non-mainland Chinese tourists totaled 9.15 million in 2019, up 9% over 2018, while inbound arrivals from the 18 countries in the New Southbound Policy region rose by 6%. These figures highlight Taiwan's success in transforming the structure of its major visitor source markets to achieve greater balance and reduce its reliance on a single market.

In 2019, the TTB is highlighting the diversity and vitality of life and local culture in Taiwan’s small towns via the tourism development theme of "Small Town Ramble Year." The theme aligns with both the global trend toward sustainable tourism as well as Taiwan's efforts to achieve balanced local development. From an original number of 368 applicant towns, 100 were eventually selected. Forty towns were selected through a three-stage process that included county/city government recommendations, online voting, and secret visitor trips. To this were added 30 towns selected as part of 2020’s “Year of Mountain Range Tourism” and 30 other town’s included within 2021’s “Year of Cycling Tourism.” Therefore, the selected towns also receive additional promotion via the subsequent tourism themes noted above. The TTB is currently working with local governments, communities, and the tourism industry, as well as leveraging local resources, to attract domestic and international visitors by highlighting the rich tourism experiences and unique local cultures offered by Taiwan's distinctive small towns.

Minister of Transportation & Communications Lin Chia-lung's forward-looking vision of a "tourism-based country" and his "mainstreaming tourism" policy have underpinned the planning of a blueprint for sustainable development of tourism in Taiwan. In February 2019, the TTB began drafting the Taiwan Tourism Policy White Paper. This document will examine areas such as changes and trends in the domestic and foreign tourism environment, tourism policy in Asian-Pacific countries, and the effectiveness of Taiwan's tourism policy. The TTB has also arranged 17 symposiums and consultation meetings with business, government, and academic representatives to brainstorm ideas and build a consensus leading to the "Taiwan Tourism 2030" plan. Six major themes to be included within the White Paper are 1) organizational and legal reform, 2) creating attractive destinations, 3) preparing theme tours, 4) expanding tourist sources, 5) optimizing the industrial environment, and 6) promoting smart experiences. It will also include about 23 response strategies and 36 key measures. The White Paper will help provides a roadmap for further developing the foundation for domestic tourism, expanding international markets, and making Taiwan an even more high-quality and tourist-friendly destination in Asia.

Tourism is a joint effort requiring everyone's participation. The TTB hopes that government departments can "mainstream tourism" and prioritize tourism in policy and development work. It hopes that central and local governments and the public can "keep tourism in mind" and that government policy will incorporate tourism into its considerations. The TTB also hopes that the travel & tourism industry and government entities will continue to operate true to the principles of sustainability and respect for resources, and will also strive to serve the interests of visitors in a responsible manner. Such efforts will help create a tourism sector that emphasizes themes such as in-depth tourism, locally-based tourism, diversity, and high quality experiences that will lift the industry to new and higher levels, in the process achieving new milestones. This annual report presents the achievements of governmental administration with regard to Taiwan tourism in 2019. It also provides links to a wealth of multimedia content that invites readers to experience Taiwan's small town charms. We hope you will discover refreshing new faces of tourism in Taiwan. We also warmly welcome your comments and suggestions.