Taipei 101 and Tokyo Skytree, the tallest structures in Taiwan and Japan, respectively, concluded a cooperation and friendship agreement May 13, taking bilateral tourist relations to a new high, an ROC Tourism Bureau official said.
Present at the signing ceremony in Taipei 101 were David W.J. Hsieh, director-general of the Tourism Bureau of the Ministry of Transportation and Communications, Taipei 101 Chairwoman Christina Sung, Tobu Tower Skytree Co. President Michiaki Suzuki, along with Taiwan cultural ambassador to Japan, Tia Lee, and her Japanese counterpart, Mai Sato, the official said.
Since its opening in 2005, more than 13 million tourists have visited Taipei 101, and April saw a new daily attendance record of 9,550 people, the bureau said. The Taipei 101 Observatory received more than 360,000 trips made by Japanese tourists in 2012, or 16 percent of the total.
U.S.-based cable TV channel CNN rated the Taipei 101 New Year fireworks show as one of its 10 must-see events, and the Tourism Bureau includes the tower in its calendar of 42 national tourist sites, as well as ranking it as one of the nation’s major shopping spots.
The accord follows other twinning agreements between famous tourist sites in the two nations signed last month as part of 2013 Taiwan-Japan Tourism Year.
Taiwan’s Jade Mountain and Japan’s Mount Fuji signed a twinning agreement April 22, and northern Taiwan’s Pingxi branch railway line signed one with Japan’s Enoshima Electric Railway April 23. (SDH)
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