Driving Local Travel with Special Seasonal Events
1. The 2022 Taiwan Lantern Festival
Described by the Discovery Channel as one of the "best festivals in the world," the Taiwan Lantern Festival is Taiwan's top tourist festival event. After a 23-year hiatus, the 2023 Taiwan Lantern Festival returned to Taipei City, the festival's original starting point. The event featured four major exhibition areas—Light, Source, Future, and Central—along with one main lantern and six auxiliary lanterns, showcasing over 300 works. It was the first city-scale lantern festival after the reopening of borders post-pandemic.
The 2023 Taiwan Lantern Festival was held from February 5 to 19 in venues including Taipei's east commercial district, the Songshan Cultural and Creative Park, Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall, Xinyi Commercial District, and Taipei 101. Spanning an area of 168 hectares, it was the largest festival to date, attracting over 12.35 million visitors and generating economic benefits exceeding NT$25.4 billion.
2. The 2023 Taiwan Summer Tourism Festival
Midsummer festival events held by various management offices and county and city governments were integrated under a new marketing and promotion brand highlighting summer travel in Taiwan. These events attracted 16.43 million visitors and generated an economic value of NT$40.9 billion.
In response to changes in travel perceptions and consumer habits post-pandemic, the festival continued to promote midsummer tourism by reorganizing Taiwan's summer travel resources and rebranding the event as the "Taiwan Summer Tourism Festival." With themes of "coolness," "beating the heat," and "refreshing products," the festival integrated summer-themed recreational activities arranged by national scenic areas and counties and partnered with industries to drive a summer tourism boom in Taiwan. The event supported the development of surrounding industries and shaped a new brand for Taiwan's summer festival activities, attracting domestic and international visitors to Taiwan during the summer season.
3. Taiwan Culinary Exhibition
Held from August 4 to 7, 2023, at the Taipei World Trade Center Hall 1, the Taiwan Culinary Exhibition featured the "Taiwan Way Pavilion" and focused on "Cuisine + Travel" as its main theme. Activities included culinary presentations, celebrity lectures, cooking classes, and tour promotions. They attracted approximately 100,000 visitors and received over 2,750 media reports.
4. Moonlit Sea Concerts on the East Coast of Taiwan
For the Ninth Taiwan East Coast Land Arts Festival, themed "Beyond the Fifth Wave," organizers invited six groups of domestic and international artists to create six installation artworks along the East Coast. The event officially openedon June 21 with an eight-session Moonlit Sea Concert series, attractinga total of 23,000 visitors. The activity collaborated with East Coast cultural workers, art groups, and local cultural activities, and 16 groups. It also co-hosted the Sixth Amis Music Festival, attracting 95,000 visitors. The activities generated more than NT$8 billion in economic benefits, revitalizing and sustaining the rich cultural energy of the East Coast. "Moonlit Sea Concerts on the East Coast of Taiwan: Sustainability in Action" was selected for the 2023 Green Destinations Top 100 Stories in the Environment and Climate category by the Netherlands-based nonprofit Green Destinations Foundation.
5. Taiwan Cycling Festival
In conjunction with the Island-Round Bike Path Upgrading and Route Integration Promotion Plan, improvements were made to facilities and services along 849.3 kilometers of various bicycle routes. The festival promoted bicycle tourism in line with low-carbon sustainability, encouraging travel agencies to collaborate with related industries to develop bicycle tourism and creative themed high-quality tour packages. In 2023, a total of 16 diverse bicycle routes were introduced.
On May 29, 2023, the Taiwanbike website was officially launched. Guidance was provided to over 5,118 lodging industry operators to join the "Bicycle-friendly Accommodations" initiative to enhance bicycle tourism support services.
On June 3, 2023, the "2023 World Bicycle Day in Taiwan" event was held along with a nationwide cycling event, with President Tsai leading the ride. Three main events with 45 segments were held in north, central, and south Taiwan, with 13 counties and cities pitching in. Approximately 10,000 people participated across Taiwan.
6. Taiwan Hot Spring & Fine-Cuisine Carnival
The 2023-2024 Taiwan Hot Spring & Fine-Cuisine Carnival marketing campaign was organized by the Northeast and Yilan Coast National Scenic Area Headquarters under the Tourism Administration. The event was launched with a ceremony at Jiaoxi Hot Spring Park in Yilan. Nineteen hot spring areas participated in promoting the theme "Romantic Starry Morning, Warm Times," integrating and connecting various promotional activities in hot spring areas to create a wonderful, romantic, and healing hot spring experience for travelers.
