TAIPEI, Taiwan--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The opening to international flights of four key city airports - Sungshan Airport in Taipei, Hongqiao Airport in Shanghai, Haneda Airport in Tokyo, and Kimpo Airport in Seoul - has created a set of "golden air routes" in the Asia Pacific region, and is expected to lead to a further dramatic increase in the number of tourists that Taiwan receives. At the same time, with the prohibition on FIT travel to Taiwan by mainland Chinese tourists soon to be lifted, the outlook for the development of new business opportunities in the tourist hotel industry is very bright.
During the period January - September 2010, there were a total of 103 international tourist hotels and ordinary tourist hotels in Taiwan. According to statistics compiled by Taiwan's Tourism Bureau, over 10 new tourist hotels are planning to open within the next five years, involving total investment in excess of NT$20 billion.
The Taiwanese government attaches great importance to the development of the tourist industry, and will be allocating NT$30 billion for the implementation of the Taiwan Tourism Development Plan. The government anticipates that, by 2012, at least 10 leading international hotel chains will have established themselves in Taiwan. The gradual upturn in the global economy and the normalization of relations between Taiwan and mainland China is of great benefit to Taiwan; at the same time, Taiwan continues to work actively to attract visitors from important markets, including Japan and South Korea, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Europe and North America, while also developing emerging markets. The annual number of tourist arrivals in Taiwan is forecast to rise from just over 4 million at present to 5.5 million by 2012.
The transformation of relations between Taiwan and mainland China has created impressive impetus for expansion in Taiwan's tourism sector, which had experienced a long period of lackluster growth. The tourist hotel industry has a vital role to play with respect to both tourism and business travel. Taiwan has already opened up its markets to mainland Chinese investment in 204 areas, including the tourist hotel industry. In the new era that has been ushered in by the signing of the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA) between Taiwan and China, the Taiwanese government is working actively to coordinate resources and expand its investment promotion activities; the government's aim is to work together with global investors to create a bright future for industry. For more information about investing in Taiwan, visit the InvesTaiwan website at http://investtaiwan.org
Contacts
Department of Investment Services,
Ministry of Economic Affairs, R.O.C.
Snow Tsao, +886-2-2389-2111 ext. 613
cctsao@moea.gov.tw