Delegates from Taiwan and officials from the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Manila attend the Taiwan Tourism Workshop in Clark, Pampanga. (Photo by Joyce Ann L. Rocamora)
MANILA -- Taiwan targets to attract 500,000 Filipino tourists this year, a ranking officer of the Taiwan Tourism Bureau said Tuesday.
Abe Chou, director of the Taiwan Tourism Bureau for Malaysia, the Philippines, Indonesia and Brunei, said more than 400,000 Filipino tourists visited Taiwan in 2018.
Since the visa-free policy for Filipinos was implemented, tourists from the country grew by 44.13 percent from 290,784 in 2017 to about 419,105 last year.
"We hope that the visa relations can extend and that we reach 500,000 tourists from the Philippines (this year)," Chou told reporters at the sidelines of the Taiwan Tourism Workshop in Clark, Pampanga.
He noted that the potential of the Filipino market is "very important" to Taiwan given the two destinations' close distance to each other.
"Every Filipino who comes to Taiwan for the first time always goes to Taipei. The Philippines is very near, so we wish they (Filipinos) would visit different cities in Taiwan," he added.
According to TECO Deputy Representative James Chu, Taiwan and the Philippines' two-way tourism has reached "new heights" in 2018.
Taiwan remains among the top sources of the country’s tourism industry with 240,842 Taiwanese tourists traveling to the Philippines in 2018, marking an increase of 3.38 percent from the previous year.
Chu bared that airlines from Taiwan and the Philippines are also opening more routes from various cities. On April 1, China Airlines is slated to open flights from Taichung, a metropolitan area in central Taiwan, to Manila.
"We now have more direct flights to the southern part of Taiwan," he said, adding these reflect the "tireless efforts" of both sides to boost their tourism collaboration.
Meanwhile, he vowed to "personally urge" the Taiwanese government to further extend the visa-free status for Filipinos and to make the official announcement at the earliest possible time. The visa-free policy for Filipinos is set to expire on July 31 this year. (PNA)
