Wednesday, November 5, 2008

S'pore firms eye Taiwan tourists amid slump

Published November 5, 2008
Singapore Business Times

Players tie up with Taiwanese agencies to push travel deals

By JASON TAN
IN TAIPEI


WHILE Taiwanese consumers started to cut down travel expenses in view of the weak economic sentiment, it may not be all bad news to some.

Marketing campaigns launched by Singapore Tourism Board (STB) here have managed to catch the attention of local consumers and drew them to the city-state.

One such case is the Formula One race held in late September, which lured big spenders to Singapore to enjoy the first-time night street race, according to Mei Yeh, an assistant manager with STB in Taipei.

'The F1 helped boost Singapore's fame here,' said Ms Yeh, adding that a number of travel agencies unveiled packages catering to the die-hard fans, with some well-heeled travellers spending as much as NT$10,000 (S$4,450) for the trip.

It may not be a good timing to promote holiday trips now, but STB took the chance at the four-day Taipei International Travel Fair - Asia's largest travel exhibition which ended recently - to promote the 'Uniquely Singapore' experience.

It tied up with five local agencies to push packages for travellers shopping for bargain deals. STB's selling points for November and December are 'A Sweet Christmas in Singapore', 'ZoukOut 2008' and 'Marina Bay Singapore Countdown 2009'.

In addition to STB, Singapore Airlines was also trying to reach out to Taiwanese travellers with its A380 packages at the travel exhibition.

'Travellers here are aware of A380 products and the general feedback is good,' Ms Sharon Wu, a manager with the airlines in Taipei, told BT.

While Singapore firms are upbeat despite the travel slump in Taiwan, local firms feel tougher days lie ahead.

'People nowadays don't have the mood to go for holidays,' said Miki Lai, a manager at Star Travel Service - one of the two largest online travel sites in Taiwan. Even short-haul flights to South-east Asia are affected and around 10 travel agencies have recently folded, she said.

That's why Taiwanese are now betting on the cash-rich mainland tourists to revive the sluggish tourism sector.

Statistics from Cross-Strait Tourism Association show that the number of China's outbound tourists grew 18.6 per cent to 40.9 million last year, and would increase to 50 million in 2010. Total figure could reach 100 million by 2020, making it the world's fourth-largest outbound tourist country.

Taiwan, indeed, hopes to grab a share of the pie when both sides across the strait launched direct charter flights on weekends in July. The island has ceased direct flights to the mainland after 1949.

However, only some 1,000 mainlanders visited Taipei a week after the charter flights began, a far cry from the 3,000 daily as earlier expected.

'The doors to Taiwan were just flung open. Mainland Chinese are still unfamiliar with Taiwan's travel products,' said Zhu Shanzhong, secretary-general of China's Cross-Strait Tourism Association, who was at the fair to promote China's attractions.

Further measures have to be taken to lure Chinese visitors, he said, which include expanding direct daily flights, easing restrictions on size of travel groups, and allowing more 'free and easy time' during the trip.

Taiwan's authorities have estimated that Chinese visitors could boost the economy by injecting NT$60 billion a year.