Major tourism attractions in Taiwan are set to appear on TV screens across India after “Saas Bahu Suspense,” a popular series on one of the South Asian nation’s largest Hindi channels, recently completed filming an episode in Taipei City and along the island’s southeastern coast.
Shooting for the episode, which is scheduled to be broadcast in about two months, was arranged by the Tourism Bureau under the Ministry of Transportation and Communications as part of efforts by the Republic of China (Taiwan) government to increase visitor numbers from New Southbound Policy target countries.
A key plank of President Tsai Ing-wen’s national development strategy, the policy seeks to deepen Taiwan’s agricultural, business, cultural, education, trade and tourism links with the 10 Association of Southeast Asian Nations member states, six South Asian countries, Australia and New Zealand.
“Saas Bahu Suspense” appears on India TV, a channel averaging 72 million viewers a week. The episode in Taiwan is hosted by celebrity acting couple Mohit Sehgal and Sanaya Irani.
During the five-day shoot, the pair visited southeastern Taiwan’s Taitung County to take in the Taiwan International Balloon Fiesta, a hot air balloon festival drawing hundreds of thousands of visitors annually. They also attended a moonlit concert staged as part of the East Coast Land Art Festival.
The hosts next traveled to outlying Green Island where they soaked in its famed saltwater hot springs and went scuba diving to view spectacular coral reefs. They concluded their trip by traveling to Taiwan’s capital city to visit the iconic Taipei 101 skyscraper, the world’s tallest green building.
According to the Tourism Bureau, efforts to promote Taiwan’s tourism sector in India are starting to pay dividends, as visitor numbers from the South Asian nation rose from 23,849 in 2010 to 33,550 in 2016. The nation is also growing in popularity as a corporate and incentive travel destination, with a 200-person group from Mumbai-headquartered Tata Steel Group, one of the world’s leading steelmakers, visiting the country earlier this month, the bureau added. (CPY-E)
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