The first of six incentive travel groups from India arrived in Taiwan Feb. 9 for a five-day visit, providing a boost to the local tourism sector and reflecting the success of government efforts to promote the country as a major destination.
According to the Tourism Administration under the Ministry of Transportation and Communications, the groups comprise around 800 Mumbai-based Asian Paints employees and their family members. The arrangements were made by Axplore Travelplus, a Mumbai-based agency that specializes in meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions (MICE) tourism.
During their stay, the group will experience Taiwan’s tea culture in Taipei City’s Maokong area and visit major tourist attractions such as the historic Dadaocheng neighborhood, Ximending shopping district, Taipei 101 and Taipei Zoo, as well as travel to the northeastern county of Yilan for beach activities. The TA expects the six groups to generate at least NT$30 million (US$914,578) in revenue for the local economy.
The TA said that India’s enormous population, rising economic power and post-pandemic tourism surge led to around 30 million departures in 2024, reflecting the South Asian country’s promise as a valuable source of foreign visitors.
This potential prompted the TA to launch the Taiwan Tourism Information Center in Mumbai in February 2024 and initiate a raft of promotional campaigns, such as staging business sessions with local travel agencies and inviting media outlets and social media influencers to visit Taiwan, the agency said, adding that Axplore Travelplus was among the MICE service providers that visited Taiwan last June.
In addition to ongoing promotions in major target markets such as Japan, South Korea, North America, Western Europe and Southeast Asia, the TA expects the new TTICs set up in Jakarta, Paris, Vancouver and Manila last year to begin to pay dividends, adding that it plans to upgrade the Mumbai center to a regional office by the end of 2025. (SFC-E)
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