Taipei City Government

To discover new sources of international customers, expand service to the Muslim tourist market, and attract high-quality tourists, the Taipei City Government’s Department of Information and Tourism (TPEDOIT) visited Dubai on April 25 to take part in the Arabian Travel Market, ATM 2019, the largest B2B professional tour exhibition of the Middle East area.

The agency focused on global buyers and Middle Eastern tourists by organizing four special routes in Taipei featuring its charming landmarks, and also a Muslim-friendly tourist environment. It seeks to invite friends from all over the world to feel the urban charm and friendly passion of Taipei’s culture.

This is the 26th year of the ATM show. The professional platform attracts tourism-related exhibitors from different countries all over the world. In 2018, exhibitors from 141 countries, 28,000 professional buyers and 39,000 professionals showcased a total of over 2,800 products and destinations and generated total sales of over US$2.5 billion.

To expand Taipei’s tourism market, TPEDOIT attended the largest B2B professional tourism exhibition in the Middle East. Senior Specialist Chiang Chun-hui mentioned that Taipei City promoted itself with the theme “Center of Asia’s Hidden Gem” through four special routes, including “Gates of Taipei”, “World-class National Treasures”, “The beauty of Taipei City”, and “Pamper Your Taste Buds in Taipei”. She emphasized that Taipei offers rich natural resources such as Yangmingshan, Beitou Hotsprings, a renowned collection of National treasures that are famous as the Louvre Museum of France, and historical structures such as the North Gate at the city center. Also, tourists can take Taipei Sightseeing double-decker buses to visit many different landmarks all at once. Taipei has been selected as one of the ten greatest cities for gourmets. The recent addition of Michelin-starred delicacies and Bib Gourmand valued street food are popular delights that tourists won’t want to miss out on.

In 2019, the Global Muslim Travel Index rated Taiwan as the 3rd best non-Muslim country in the world for Muslims to visit. The ranking puts the island ahead of popular tourist countries such as the United States, Germany, and France (ranked only next to Singapore and Thailand). As the capital of Taiwan, Taipei has the highest number of Muslim-friendly restaurant and furniture retailers with Muslim-friendly labels in the commercial districts. The home for many friendly citizens who respect other religions, Taipei allows Muslim and Middle Eastern tourists to enjoy their visit with comfort. Here, Muslims can enjoy traveling in Taipei while experiencing the local food, and feel the special charm of Asia.

In order for the Middle Eastern buyers to fully experience the attractiveness of Taipei’s city life, TPEDOIT installed VR equipment for the first time at the exhibition to offer a 360 degrees VR experience known as “VR Souvenir - Take Taipei Home”. Street views and special landmarks of Taipei are shown in this realistic experience. Chiang Chun-hui mentioned that the VR experience prepared by TPEDOIT allows Arabian buyers to see landmarks such as Dadaocheng, Taipei 101, and Yongkang Street with the help of technology. The VR experience attracted many international buyers that are unfamiliar with Taipei, and also aroused their curiosity and impressions towards our city. The exhibition attracted many international buyers who want to try out the VR gadget. The experience offers them a memorable impression of Taipei streets and Asian style.

Also, in order to develop the Middle East market and encourage incentive travel, TPEDOIT entered into negotiations with over 50 organizations in the local tourism industry and introduced the excellent exhibition environment of Taipei to the interested parties. Organizations in the Middle East tourism industry are expected to register for the incentive travel in Taipei. Chiang mentioned that this time, promotion in the Middle East focused on the buyers from over 140 countries in ATM 2019 regarding the city’s image and tourism, attracting organizations in the Middle-East tourism industry and high-quality tourists to register for the incentive travel in Taipei being part of the purpose as well. The related Middle-Eastern organizations and media will be invited to Taipei later to try out the tours. In order to further expand the market for tourism internationally, it is important to attract more high-quality tourists and Muslims to support tourism and consumption in Taipei.