Taiwan tourism & travel, reviews
 
台湾の観光&旅行
 
           
   this site's world No. 1 in  2020~24,  2017~19 2016,  2015, 2014, 2013 2010~12      Top  since 1998  
   
   


fights for rights

  home  Taiwan  TW  OP  tour  restaurants  night market democracy  love  personality  hospitals  pres.  president  women  speech  privacy  fraud  univ.  internet-army  military  massage  prostitution  judiciary  police  prosecutors  judicial-persecution  corruption  foreign-labor  Taiwan-brief  human-rights  intl-human-rights  death penalty  diplomacy  transportation  avia.  happiness   housing   buffet   food   image  soft power  creativity  culture  wealth  drugs  persecutions  trans-justice   US-cartoons  US-designs  Japan-comics  Chn-creativity  Chn-cartoons-WWII  political-cartoons  cartoon-creativity  mental-control  music  movies  FB  CovID 

->  int'l views   restaurants   night-markets  buffet   transportation   massage entertainment   natural beauties   architectures   expenses   art&culture heritage   outlet   criminal rate

 

Taiwan

         Taiwan travel  

ranks 10+th in Asia

   

TIME, 2023-11-20:  Growth in Taiwan for 2023 is projected to be 1.61%—its slowest pace in eight years. Beijing only has to lift a ban on Chinese tourists to boost Taiwan's GDP by over 1%, according to Capital Economics.  time.com/6336441/taiwan-presidental-election-william-lai-profile/

CNN (2022-12-6): Taiwan's 'living hell' traffic is a tourism problem.  Taiwan is notorious for its dangerous roads. Multiple countries, including Australia, Canada, Japan and the US, have specifically called out Taiwan's road conditions. "Many drivers do not respect the pedestrian's right of way,” the US State Department warns.  The Canadian government: "Motorcycles and scooter drivers don't respect traffic laws. They are extremely reckless.” Cities in Taiwan share a major issue – a lack of pavements and consistent walkways for pedestrians, ... Pedestrians are then often “forced” to walk onto car lanes...  The number of people lost their lives to traffic incidents in Taiwan is approximately six times higher than Japan and five times higher than the UK.  msn.com/en-us/travel/news/taiwans-living-hell-traffic-is-a-tourism-problem-say-critics/ar-AA14Xb2n  brief

economist / The world's most liveable cities in 2023
City liveability index, Mar. 2023   -   Taipei ranks world No. 65, Asia's No.14

score

cities in Asia

90+ Melbourne, Sydney, Aucland, Adelaide, Osaka(Japan), Perth, Tokyo(Japan), Brisbane, Wellington, Singapore
 80-90 Seoul(Korea), Hong Kong(Chn),  Busan(Korea), Taipei (Taiwan), Kaohsiung, Taichung
60-80 Noumea, Nantong, SuZhou, Beijing, ShenYang, Shanghai, etc
top 5 cities: Vienna 98.4,  Copenhagen, Melbourne, Sydney, Vancouver ... No.10 Osaka, Auckland 96
Score out of 100*  five categories: stability, health care, culture and environment, education and infrastructure.

 

2023  Michelin stars comparisons among Asian countries

 Michelin cities

total number of stars

Green Star

3 Star

2 Star

1 Star

Tokyo (Japan) 202 12 12 39 139
Kyoto (Japan) 104 6 6 19 73
Osaka (Japan) 97 3 3 10 81
Hong Kong 81 3 7 13 58
Singapore 65 1 3 6 55
 Shanghai (China) 51 1 2 9 39
Seoul (S. Korea) 38 3 2 8 25
Taipei (Taiwan) 29 2 2 5 20
 By highlighting eco-friendly pioneer restaurants with the MICHELIN Green Star, and spotlighting their virtuous initiatives, it stimulates awareness and actions both within the industry and by gourmets. 

 

DailyMail (UK), 2023-4-28:  Young Australian student on his dream overseas exchange program is fighting for his life in Taiwan after eating street food laced with rat poison.  His Doctor father said:  "He had been misdiagnosed in Taiwan with an immune disorder".  Alex is at the Taipei Medical University Hospital ..."The medical services in Taiwan don't currently have the right treatments or drugs to stabilise his condition", "Alex's condition has grown worse and he needs to be flown to the Royal Prince Albert Hospital in Sydney via a specialised medical flight retrieval service".  dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12023841/Toowoomba-student-exchange-Taiwan-fighting-life-eating-food-laced-rat-poison.html
 New York Times, 2023-3-16: Xia Hai City God Temple - managing to cram more than 600 statues of deities in just over 1,600 square feet. One in particular stands out: the Love God  (ps: but Taiwanese prefer bread to romance) Chifeng Street is a fashion-forward shopping street flush with vintage clothing stores... Dadaocheng is Taipei’s oldest neighborhood, famous for its dried goods   Yangmingshan National Park is home to wild hot springs and volcanic peaks.Qixing Mountain is a dormant volcano and the tallest mountain in Taipei.Because of gentrification and noise complaints, many of Taipei’s night markets aren’t as robust as they were decades ago. Ningxia Night Market is a distinguished exception nytimes.com/interactive/2023/03/16/travel/things-to-do-taipei.html
CNN (2022-12-6): Taiwan's 'living hell' traffic is a tourism problem.  Taiwan is notorious for its dangerous roads. Multiple countries, including Australia, Canada, Japan and the US, have specifically called out Taiwan's road conditions. "Many drivers do not respect the pedestrian's right of way,” the US State Department warns.  The Canadian government: "Motorcycles and scooter drivers don't respect traffic laws. They are extremely reckless.” Cities in Taiwan share a major issue – a lack of pavements and consistent walkways for pedestrians, ... Pedestrians are then often “forced” to walk onto car lanes...  The number of people lost their lives to traffic incidents in Taiwan is approximately six times higher than Japan and five times higher than the UK.  msn.com/en-us/travel/news/taiwans-living-hell-traffic-is-a-tourism-problem-say-critics/ar-AA14Xb2n  brief

New York Times, (nytimes.com/interactive/2021/world/covid-cases.html) 2023-2-23 : Taiwan's CovID death rate (deaths per 100,000) ranks world No.1.   The ranks of other Asian countries : No.6 Australia, No. 7 Japan, No. 23 New Zealand, No. 27 Hong Kong, 35 Korea, 64 Malaysia, 66 Thailand, 68 Indonesia, 72 India, about 170 Singapore, about 200 China.
 

economist / The world's most liveable cities in 2023
City liveability index, Mar. 2023   -   Taipei ranks world No. 65, Asia's No.14

score

cities in Asia

90+ Melbourne, Sydney, Aucland, Adelaide, Osaka(Japan), Perth, Tokyo(Japan), Brisbane, Wellington, Singapore
 80-90 Seoul(Korea), Hong Kong(Chn),  Busan(Korea), Taipei (Taiwan), Kaohsiung, Taichung
60-80 Noumea, Nantong, SuZhou, Beijing, ShenYang, Shanghai, etc
top 5 cities: Vienna 98.4,  Copenhagen, Melbourne, Sydney, Vancouver ... No.10 Osaka, Auckland 96
Score out of 100*  five categories: stability, health care, culture and environment, education and infrastructure.

CNN: Taiwan will pay tourist to visit.
 

New York Times (2023-1-12): In the Times Travel section's 52 places to go in 2023, Taipei ranks No. 36, other Asia's selections include No.2 Morioka Japan, No. 5 Auckland NZ,  7 kangaroo island Australia, 12 Bhutan,  13 Kerala India,  19 Fukuoka Japan,  20  Flores Indonesia,  25 Ha Giang Vietnam,  27 U-K Tjuta National Park, Australia nytimes.com/interactive/2023/travel/52-places-travel-2023.html?campaign_id=7&emc=edit_mbae_20230113&instance_id=82548&nl=morning-briefing%3A-asia-pacific-edition&regi_id=93861781&segment_id=122347&te=1&user_id=4a9594d616730fc2c1567d65a316b5f1

 

WEF (World Economic Forum) , May 2022
world Travel and Tourism Development Index
Taiwan's rank -
n/a (last)
weforum.org/reports/travel-and-tourism-development-index-2021/digest

world rank Asia's rank economies/countries score (global average : 4.0)
1 1 Japan 5.2
2 2 USA 5.2
7 3 Australia 5.0
9 4 Singapore 5.0
12 5 China 4.9
15 6 S. Korea 4.8
19 7 Hong Kong 4.6
25 8 UAE 4.5
27 9 New Zealand 4.5
32 10 Indonesia 4.4
33 11 Saudi Arabia 4.3
36 12 Thailand 4.3
38 13 Malaysia 4.3
43 14 Qatar 4.3
52 15 Vietnam 4.1
54 16 India 4.1
74 17 Sri Lanka 3.7
75 18 Philippines 3.7
84 19 Mongolia 3.6
n/a n/a Taiwan n/a
statista.com/statistics/186639/best-ranked-countries-in-the-travel-and-tourism-competetiveness-index/#:~:text=In%202021%2C%20Japan%2C%20the%20United,a%20TTDI%20score%20of%205.1.

 

2022  Michelin stars comparisons among Asian countries

 Michelin cities

number of 3 stars

num. of 2 stars

number of 1 star

total num.

Tokyo (Japan) 12 41 150 203
Hong Kong 7 12 52 71
Kyoto (Japan) 6 19 83 108
Osaka (Japan) 3 11 82 96
Singapore 3 7 41 51
Macau 3 5 7 15
Seoul (Korea) 2 7 24 33
Shanghai (China) 2 8 37 47
Taipei (Taiwan) 1 6 24 31
TaiChung City (Taiwan) 0 1 4 5
Kaohsiung (Taiwan) 0 0 2 2
TaiNan City(Taiwan) 0 0 0 0
 

 China Times - Want Weekly, No.185: To emergently save dying tourism, Taiwan government spent NT90,000,000 (USD3 millions) to have <Michelin Guide> in Taiwan. 

 

Users/88695/Downloads/20220830_PR-MG_TTTK-2022.pdf
guide.michelin.com/th/en/article/news-and-views/michelin-guide-singapore-2022-new-starred-restaurants
   2022-7-12
guide.michelin.com/en/article/news-and-views/michelin-guide-seoul-2022-eng

guide.michelin.com/hk/en/article/news-and-views/michelin-guide-hong-kong-macau-2022-unveiled-today-with-11-newly-starred-restaurants
guide.michelin.com/en/article/news-and-views/the-michelin-guide-kyoto-osaka-2022-is-unveiled-en
michelin.com/en/press-releases/michelin-guide-2022-shanghai/
guide.michelin.com/en/article/news-and-views/michelin-guide-tokyo-2022-eng    
2021-11-29

Liberty Times (Taiwan), 2022-8-30, editorial :
From earliest days,  taro, sweet potato, millet, vegetables, wild herbs and seafood are aborigines' characteristics; then the Han people brought in different traditional dishes from Fujian and Guangdong,  in a period of Japanese colonial rule, sashimi, oden, Bento ... were in  ; after 1949, mainland Chinese moving to Taiwan are good at northern and southern Chinese cuisines...talk.ltn.com.tw/article/paper/1537171

 

2021  Michelin stars comparisons among Asian countries

 Michelin cities

number of 3 stars

number of 2 stars

number of 1 star

total num.

Tokyo (Japan) 12 42 158 212
Hong Kong 10 18 59 87
Kyoto (Japan) 7 19 84 110
Osaka (Japan) 3 12 81 96
Seoul (Korea) 2 7 23 32
Singapore Sept - - -
Shanghai (China) 1 10 32 43
Taipei (Taiwan) 1 7 21 29

New York Times (2022-11-15), Taiwan's CovID-19 death rate is worst among main Asian countries.  detail

According to New York Times (2022-10-25), Taiwan's CovID-19 cases per 100,000 and deaths per 100,000 both are the worst among main Asian countries.

 

★   AFP, 2022-10-13: Taiwan welcomes foreign tour groups as border fully reopens /  three days of hotel quarantine have been replaced with seven days of "self-monitoring" where tourists are expected to keep an eye on their health and wear face masks indoors and outdoors...tourists must submit to regular tests for a week after their arrival and cannot enter bars and restaurants for the first three days news.yahoo.com/taiwan-welcomes-foreign-tour-groups-035747205.html

★  SCMP, 2022-10-1:  As Taiwan eases some of world’s oldest quarantine rules, remaining curbs and concerns see airlines lament ‘half step forward’... Travellers will be allowed outside during the seven-day period if their Covid tests come back negative every two days, but analysts say testing remains a 'deterrent to travel' ... The weekly cap on arrivals will "hamper a full-fledged recovery" in Taiwan's tourism msn.com/en-xl/travel/other/as-taiwan-eases-some-of-world-e2-80-99s-oldest-quarantine-rules-remaining-curbs-and-concerns-see-airlines-lament-e2-80-98half-step-forward-e2-80-99/ar-AA12tLJi

 Washington Examiner, 2022-8-26: China's temper tantrum over House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan seems to have sparked a mini-boom in congressional tourism toward the island.  washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/op-eds/seventy-year-lie-china-has-never-had-a-serious-claim-to-taiwan
  NY Times, 2022-8-18: Taiwanese cuisine — layered, distinct, multiethnic ...has been shaped by many cultural forces, including the island's Indigenous tribes,  long-established groups of Fujianese and Hakka people; Japanese ;  Chinese immigrants in 1949+...   nytimes.com/2022/08/16/dining/taiwanese-cuisine.html

 


World Economic Forum (WEF)  <Travel and tourism competitiveness report> released at 9-4-2019

   Taiwan's travel & tourism  -  ranks 10th in Asia    
category Taiwan's rankings and/or score comparison
prioritization of travel and tourism   No75  Singapore No.6 ,  Hong Kong No. 11
Natural & cultural resources No.58  score 2.6 China  No.1, score 6.0 , France No.2,  5.0,  Spain  No.3, 5.7,   Japan No.7, 5.3,   Indonesia No.18,  Thailand No.21,  Korea No.24,  Vietnam No.26,  Malaysia No.31,  HK No.40,  Philippines No.46,  Sri Lanka No.52,  Nepal No.56
Natural resources  No. 87 Hong Kong No. 42, Singapore No.120
 
cultural resources & business travel No. 36  score 2.6 China No1, score 7.0
price competitiveness No. 78 China 5.7
Health & Hygiene  No.43,  score 6 score worse than Korea, Japan, Mongolia
international openness No. 60 only better than China, Mongolia
Safety & security No. 26 human resource & labor market: Taiwan No.18

 

 

UNWTO  World Tourism Barometer
UNWTO Tourism Dashboard, updated 2022-9-25
Asia countries  -  tourism performance

  Arrivals (million) Receipts (USD bn) Receipts per arrival (USD)
Macau 3.7 15.4 4169
Indonesia 1.6 0.5 334
Korea(ROK) 1.0 10.5 10814
Thai 0.4 4.8 11247
Australia 0.2 17.0 68990
Japan 0.2 4.7 19239
New Zealand 0.2 2.9 13855
Cambodia 0.2 0.2 937
Sri Lanka 0.2 0.5 2606
Philippines 0.2 0.6 3663
Vietnam 0.2 0.1 947
Nepal 0.1 0.1 801
Taiwan 0.1 0.7 5298
China   11.3  
unwto.org/tourism-data/global-and-regional-tourism-performance


South China Morning Post, 2022-7-13: many Taiwanese are ‘protecting themselves’ by shunning what are normally some of the most crowded spaces, and the trend continues to keep pressure on tourism operators  scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3185049/how-taiwans-tourism-industry-surviving-its-biggest-ever-covid

National Geographic, 2022-7-6: Japanese filmmaker Hayao Miyakazi denies that Jiufen (Taiwan) was an inspiration, but many have drawn a connection between the town’s ... resemblance to the settings in the 2001 film Spirited Away (《千與千尋》,《神隱少女》,(日语:千と千尋の神隠し), an Oscar-winning animated feature).   nationalgeographic.com/travel/article/exploring-the-magic-of-taiwans-spirited-away-city

 

ISSF's (The Indian Strategic Studies Forum)
World Soft Power Index 2022
Tourism
(Infrastructure + Footfall + Receipts + Visitor's satisfaction)

1 France
2 Italy
3 USA
4 Spain
5 Thailand
6 Swiss
7 Turkey
8 China
9 Germany
10 UK

img1.wsimg.com/blobby/go/905bb114-a609-4bd0-a33b-dabe335781b0/downloads/ISSF_s%20World%20Soft%20Power%20Index%202022.pdf?ver=1660547924817

ISSF's World Soft Power Index 2022
Brand Recognition

1 USA
2 Japan
3 Germany
4 S. Korea
5 UK
6 France
7 Italy
8 Swiss
9 China
10 India

img1.wsimg.com/blobby/go/905bb114-a609-4bd0-a33b-dabe335781b0/downloads/ISSF_s%20World%20Soft%20Power%20Index%202022.pdf?ver=1660547924817


 

 

main attractions for tourists
 

 
Insider (Jun. -2015, businessinsider.com/reasons-to-travel-to-taiwan-2015-6#now-get-to-know-another-country-24) introduced some places for tourists:

    ◎  Hehuan Mountain and Ali Mountain are two top-rated scenic spots on TripAdvisor. (阿里山等)    ◎  Sun Moon Lake(日月潭) 

    ◎ Kenting National Park(墾丁).   9 nationall. parks, which make up 8.6% of its land.  Taroko National Gorge (太魯閣) alone is worth spending at least two days hiking its numerous scenic trails.

    ◎ hot springs Beitou outside of Taipei, and Jiaoxi in Yilan (北投宜蘭等溫泉)
    ◎
Taiwanese people love to eat, signature food are beef noodle soup, soup dumplings, and the uniquely Taiwanese oyster omelets.
    ◎
Taiwanese breakfast: Fuhang Doujiang in Taipei
    ◎
Every major city has at least one night market — Shilin and Raohe in Taipei, Keelung's is arguably the country's largest and most renowned
    ◎
some crazy fruit :pink guava, wax apples, and “Buddha’s head.”
    ◎ Hehuan Mountain and Ali Mountain
    ◎ Taipei 101 is the 4th tallest in the world. It also boasts the world’s fastest elevator

 

 L.A. Times, 2018-2-18:  National Palace Museum - you can browse among some of the 600,000-plus artworks and artifacts — centuries of cultural wealth — that Chiang's people had spirited away from  China's Forbidden City 70 years ago (ps: Young people may not like old stuffs) ,  Taipei 101 (but no longer world tallest building) ,  Din Tai Fung (already degraded by Michelin Guide for a few years, no longer a star-restaurant) , Longshan Temple (a small temple), Shilin night market (Taiwan's night markets don't have same Michelin honors as those street food in Singapore, Hong Kong and Macau have )  ,  Chiang Kai-shek Memorial (Taiwan's parliament passed a law that calls for erasing Chiang's name and likeness from landmarks across the island) ,  Pingxi sky lantern ( biodegradable lanterns can be incredibly harmful to both the environment and wildlife. Sky lantern litter takes quite some time to decompose, and the wire frames have been known to strangle and maim wild animals and livestock. They may pose a  fire hazard),  You might feel the ground shake (Not too often, you may not feel it)   dailypress.com/life/la-tr-taipei-20180218-story.html

 

USA Today, 2020-11-21 (usatoday.com/story/news/world/2020/11/21/taiwans-relatively-covid-free-life-attracts-skilled-expats/6322040002/)Foreign professionals run up against a protectionist mentality in e-commerce segments such as ride-hailing and home-sharing services like Uber and Airbnb.  Taiwan’s English fluency lags Hong Kong and Singapore.  In one of the most densely populated places on Earth, people live so packed together in apartment blocks that a neighbor's footfall upstairs or roadwork just outside easily overpower the sound of one's own TV.

 

♣  New York Times, 2008-3-2: The National Palace Museum is considered by many to be the finest repository of Chinese art in the worldthe 1,670-foot Taipei 101,

Da An Park - the largest public park in Taipei (a median sized park with little flowers) , Beitou , renowned for its hot springs resorts, some modeled after those in Japan (some are good), Din Tai Fung, a mandatory stop on Taiwan's restaurant sceneLongshan Temple, shaved ice topped with fresh mango, strawberry or kiwi at Ice Monster in Yongkang Street nytimes.com/2008/03/02/travel/02hours.html

 

♣   MSN, 2022-9-12   https://msn.com/en-us/travel/tripideas/these-are-the-10-top-rated-tours-to-take-in-taiwan/ar-AA11Kmly

☉(1) Jiufen Village And Northeast Coast Tour From Taipei
☉(2)
Taipei Street Food & Night Market Tour With A Local ( Yanshan Night Market,etc)

☉(3) Private Night Tour Of Taipei ( historic Dalongdong Baoan Temple, Taipei 101,etc)

☉(4) 5-Day Best Of Taiwan: Sun Moon Lake, Tarako Gorge, Kaohsiung, Taitung

☉(5) Taipei City Tour With National Palace Museum Ticket ( National Palace Museum, Chiang Kai Shek Memorial, and the Martyr's Shrine.)

☉(6) Yehliu Geopark And Keelung Harbor Guided Tour From Taipei

☉(7) The 10 Tastings Of Taipei With Locals: Private Street Food Tour

☉(8) Tea Of Taipei: Small-Group Tour With Taipei City Sightseeing

☉(9) Thousand Island Lake And Pinglin Tea Plantation From Taipei

☉(10) 4-Hour Morning Cycling Tour In Taipei

 

♣  Lonely Planet, 2022-9-30:What to eat and drink in Taiwan / Yongkang Beef NoodlesTaipei.  pearl milk tea, zhenzhu naicha (珍珠奶茶) in Chun Shui Tang, Taipei.  gooey oyster omelets (蚵仔煎), ‘salt-crisp’ fried chicken tossed with basil leaves and five-spice, and shaved ice desserts (剉冰) in Miaokou Night Market, Keelung.  aboriginal Formosans cuisine: wild boar served with onions and greens, steamed rice stuffed into bamboo tubes, and millet wine – once the tonic of tribal rituals. You might also encounter dishes of betel-nut salad, bird’s nest fern and even flying squirrel try it in Taiya Popo, Yilain. lonelyplanet.com/articles/what-to-eat-and-drink-in-taiwan    Lonely Planet, 2022-10-22: 18 things you need to know before visiting Taiwan    lonelyplanet.com/articles/things-to-know-before-traveling-to-taiwan

 

small eats (in night markets...) :  In a high-cost advertisement promoted by Taiwan government, you can see commercial endorser Japanese star 木村拓哉(きむらたくやKimura Takuya) keep eating "small eats" ...

 

Rough Guides ―  Things Not To Miss In Taiwan

https://www.roughguides.com/destinations/asia/taiwan/things-miss/

1. Sun Moon Lake

2. KinMen 金門

3. Hot Springs

4. Kenting National Park墾丁

5.Taroko Gorge 太魯閣

6. LuGang

7.Orchid Island 蘭嶼

8.Aboriginal culture

9.TaiNan, myriad temples 台南

10.Surfing

Rough Guides (Jan. 2017) intro Taiwan's new wave cafés,  all-round sophisticated city life, and TW cuisine and night markets remain world renowned...China’s influence is obvious, of course, and the cultural remnants of the island’s past occupation by both Japanese and American forces are still discernible. But as the only democracy in the Chinese-speaking world, Taiwan has a unique geography, mentality and identity.....Non-stop nightlife is never far from bubbling hot springs and sunny sub-tropical shores...  https://www.roughguides.com/best-places/2017/top-10-countries/

 

other tourist attractions:
Taipei 101, National Palace Museum, Jiufen,  Ximending taipei, Chiang Kai-shek Mem. Hall, 
Chingshui Cliff Hualien
 

 


STATISTA: Leading countries in the Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index (TTCI)

 

Taiwan's travel & tourism - 13th in Asia

  

statista.com/statistics/186639/best-ranked-countries-in-the-travel-and-tourism-competetiveness-index/
 

Asia Rank

country

score

world Rank

1 Japan 5.4 4
2 Australia 5.1 7
3 China 4.9 13
4 Korea Rep. 4.8 15
5 Hong Kong 4.8 16
6 Singapore 4.8 17
7 New Zealand 4.7 18
8 Malaysia 4.5 25
9 Thailand 4.5 29
10 UAE 4.4 33
11 India 4.4 34
12 Indonesia 4.3 36
13 Taiwan 4.3 37

 

 

World Population Review - Most Visited Countries 2022
Taiwan ranks No.34

World rank Asia's rank country
4 1 China
8 2 Thailand
11 3 Japan
14 4 Malaysia
17 5 Hong Kong
21 6 Vietnam
22 7 India
23 8 S. Korea
26 9 UAE
27 10 Indonesia
28 11 Singapore
31 12 Saudi Arabia
34 13 Taiwan
worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/most-visited-countries    2022-10-2

World Population Review - Most Visited Countries 2022
Taiwan is not selected

World rank Asia's rank country
4 1 China
9 2 Thailand
12 3 Malaysia
13 4 Hong Kong
16 5 Japan
18 6 Saudi Arabia
20 7 S. Korea
22 8 Macau
24 9 UAE
25 10 India
28 11 Singapore
29 12 Indonesia
onestep4ward.com/most-visited-countries-in-the-world/
No.1 France, No.2 USA, No.3 Spain, No.4 China, No.5 Italia

 

Asia's 50 Best restaurants 2022
Taiwan ranks No. 9 in Asia

country total number of winnings ranks
Japan 11 No.1, 3, 6, 11, 13, 14, 15, 17, 36, 42, 43
Thailand 9 No. 2, 4, 7, 10, 25, 29, 31, 33, 46
Hong Kong 6 No. 5,  9,  24, 32,  34,  48
Singapore 7 No. 8, 20, 23, 37, 40, 41, 44
China 4 12, 19, 28, 39
S. Korea 5 16, 18, 26, 27, 30
India 3 21, 22, 49
Sri Lanka 1 35,
Taiwan 2 38, 45
Macau 1 47
Malaysia 1 50
theworlds50best.com/asia/en/list/1-50
No.1  Den (Tokyo), No.2 Sorn (Bangkok), No.3 Florilege (Tokyo), 4. Le Du (Bangkok), 5. The Chairman (HK), 6.  La Cime (osaka), 7. Suhring (Bangkok), 8. Odette (Singapore), 9. Neighborhood (HK), 10. Nusara (Bangkok)

 

EATER / The world's best 50 restaurants in 2022
Taiwan failed

country total number of winnings ranks
Japan 4 No.20  Den (Tokyo), No.30 Florilege (Tokyo),
No. 41.  La Cime (osaka), No. 45  Narisawa (Tokyo)
Hong Kong 1 No. 24.  The Chairman (HK)
Singapore 1 No. 36.  Odette (Singapore)
Thailand 1 No. 39   Sorn (Bangkok)
eater.com/worlds-50-best-restaurants-awards/22960670/worlds-50-best-restaurants-2022-list-winners
   

CNN Travel / World's best restaurants for 2022 revealed
2022-7-20
Taiwan
failed

country total number of winnings ranks
Japan 4 No.20  Den (Tokyo), No.30 Florilege (Tokyo),
No. 41.  La Cime (osaka), No. 45  Narisawa (Tokyo)
Hong Kong 1 No. 24.  The Chairman (HK)
Singapore 1 No. 36.  Odette (Singapore)
Thailand 1 No. 39   Sorn (Bangkok)

edition.cnn.com/travel/article/worlds-50-best-restaurants-2022/index.html

 

Economist  /    Global Food Security Index 2022
Taiwan is not included

world rank country Overall Score Affordability Availability Quality & safety Sustainability & Adaptation
6 Japan 79.5 89.8 81.2 77.4 66.1
14 NZ 77.8 91.6 67.7 73.1 75.1
22 Australia 75.4 93.3 61.1 84 58.8
23 UAE 75.2 86.7 73.8 81.3 55.2
25 China 74.2 86.4 79.2 72.0 54.5
28 Singapore 73.1 93.2 77.8 69.7 44.3
30 Qatar 72.4 88.6 72.9 71.7 51.0
39 S Korea 70.2 76.8 71.5 71.5 58.5
41 Malaysia 69.9 87.0 59.5 74.7 53.7
46 Vietnam 67.9 84.0 60.7 70.2 52.2
63 Indonesia 60.2 81.4 50.9 56.2 46.3
64 Thailand 60.1 83.7 52.9 45.3 51.6
impact.economist.com/sustainability/project/food-security-index/

 

Adventure /  The best countries to fulfill your wanderlust

US News : usnews.com/news/best-countries/adventure-rankings

Asia Rank 2021

country of Asia-Pacific

world rank 2021

world rank 2020
1 Thailand 5 5
2 New Zealand 7 7
3 Australia 8 10
4 Philippines 17 17
5 Singapore 18 25
6 Malaysia 25 29
7 Japan 28 34
8 Indonesia 32 35
9 Vietnam 40 38
10 India 41 40
a study by George Washington University placed adventure tourism into three categories: physical activity, cultural exchange and interaction with the environment.

 

  ABC Radio National, Australia, 2-27-2020:  What's most apparent when visiting Taiwan is how ordinary it is — ordinary in the sense of normal, everyday, functional.      ps: In Taiwan, the houses/buildings are expensive "property", instead of "architecture arts",  the cars are for transportation or for business, always square shape with boring color, black, gray, etc,  hard to see a sports-car, convertible or a VW bug with clockwork on its butt ... unlike those with great vitality in the US !
Associated Press, 11-23-2020 says Taiwanese business may not be ethical ... mix the U.S. pork ( Ractopamine pork banned by 150+ countries ) with Taiwan pork
Apple Daily, editorial, 1-5-2021:  chaos !! Taiwanese are not confident in gov. control strategy ―  "Taiwan pork only" seal.  e.g., famous Taiwan cuisine restaurant " Formosa Chang (鬍鬚張)" is questioned to mark the official seal but partly use foreign pork.

 

Travel and Tourism Index by country in Asia

worldatlas.com/articles/51-best-travel-and-tourism-countries-in-the-world.html

Asia Rank

country

index score

1 Australia 4.98;  7th
2 Japan 4.94;  9th
3 Singapore 4.86  ; 11th
4 Hong Kong 4.68; 13
5 New Zealand 4.64; 16
6 China 4.54; 17
7 UAE 4.43;  24
8 S. Korea 4.37; 29
9 Taiwan 4.35; 32
10 Thailand 4.26; 35
factors: business environment, security, health and basic sanitation standards, labor and human resource,
cultural heritage, natural resources, air transport infrastructure

 

 

International tourism receipts /  Asia-Pacific countries

international tourism: data.worldbank.org/indicator/ST.INT.ARVL

Asia Rank

country of Asia-Pacific

receipts  US$ million '19

1 Thailand 60521
2 Japan 46054
3 Australia 45709
4 Macau 40060
5 China 35832
6 India 30720
7 Hong Kong 29043
8 S. Korea 21628
9 Singapore 20052
10 Malaysia 19823
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Tourism_rankings

further more info.: worlddata.info/tourism.php

 

The statistics before CovID-19 and China suspending independent Chinese tourists to Taiwan talk the exact things - 
BBC (2019-7-31): Chinese tourists account for the largest proportion of foreign tourists - because - L.A. Times (2019-8-1) listed several reasons (1) it’s about strong cultural and deep historic connection across the [Taiwan Strait]“Most Chinese in my generation grow up with many Taiwanese novels, drama, variety shows and songs." coming to Taiwan satisfies a curiosity they had felt since reading about Taiwan as children  (2) They revel in religious, architectural and cultural similarities  (3)  They take home new information from Taiwan’s newspapers, news websites and television channels, all free of censorship.  Besides, flights of no more than 2~3 hours, and stoking business.  
By contrast, tourists from North and South America only
account for about 6%~ 8%, Europe 3% ~ 4% of all int'l tourists. 
 

A ruling party friendly news, the Liberty Times, editorial (2020-6-15): Taiwanese have always preferred traveling overseas to domestic tour.
Media like LTN, Apple Daily, Storm (2022-3-30),  United Daily,
Economic Daily (2022-9-10, udn.com/news/story/7338/6601661?from=udn-catehotnews_ch2 )  , analyze WHY Taiwan's tourism is sluggish.
 n(1) transportation problem (particularly for those newly found hidden scenic spots) n (2) a small country has no many natural attractions  n(3) catering and accommodation problems - few local government can properly guide tourists by such as star-rating, therefore lots of traps are out there   n(4). Accommodation, catering, and transportation are generally expensive but of poor quality.  n(5) The tour often lacks humanistic and cultural connotations, as well as ethnic traditions and lifestyles.   there is a lack of in-depth tourism to explore geographical, cultural and ethnic characteristics.  n (6) Lacking market segmentation -  among night markets, or old streets vs. night markets.  n (7) the government does not pay attention to the tourism industry, "inadequate resource integration capabilities, insufficient investment, and insufficient marketing"

 

Asia's 50 Best restaurants 2022
Taiwan ranks No. 9 in Asia

country total number of winnings ranks
Japan 11 No.1, 3, 6, 11, 13, 14, 15, 17, 36, 42, 43
Thailand 9 No. 2, 4, 7, 10, 25, 29, 31, 33, 46
Hong Kong 6 No. 5,  9,  24, 32,  34,  48
Singapore 7 No. 8, 20, 23, 37, 40, 41, 44
China 4 12, 19, 28, 39
S. Korea 5 16, 18, 26, 27, 30
India 3 21, 22, 49
Sri Lanka 1 35,
Taiwan 2 38, 45
Macau 1 47
Malaysia 1 50
theworlds50best.com/asia/en/list/1-50
No.1  Den (Tokyo), No.2 Sorn (Bangkok), No.3 Florilege (Tokyo), 4. Le Du (Bangkok), 5. The Chairman (HK), 6.  La Cime (osaka), 7. Suhring (Bangkok), 8. Odette (Singapore), 9. Neighborhood (HK), 10. Nusara (Bangkok)

 

 

Economist, EIU, THE GLOBAL LIVEABILITY INDEX 2022

Biggest movers down the ranking in the past 12 month

Taipei (Taiwan) ranks world No. 53 

  City Location Rank Index Rank Move Index Move
1 Wellington New Zealand 50  85.7  -46  -8.0
2 Auckland New Zealand   34  89.2 -33  -6.8
3 Adelaide Australia 30  90.7 -27 -3.3
8 Taipei Taiwan  53 85.1 -20  1.2

 

 
world's most livable cities  ...
 Taiwan has not been included in the top ranking list of the world's most livable cities  |
 

world best surveys Taiwan's rankings
in top list
comparison with
other Asia & Pacific countries
EIU's Global Liveability Ranking 2022 No. 53 1. Vienna 2. Copenhagen 3. Zurich 4. Calgary 5. Vancouver 6. Geneva 7. Frankfurt 8. Toronto 9. Amsterdam 10. Osaka
The World's Best Cities to Live In 2022 failed top 10 1. London, 2. Tokyo, 3. Shanghai, 4. Singapore, 5. Melbourne, 6. Sydney, 7. Paris, 8. Beijing, 9. NY, 10. Amsterdam
 The EIU's Global Livability Index Ranking   2019  failed in the top 50 No.2  Melbourne,  No.3  Sydney,  No.4 Osaka (Japan), No. 7 Tokyo,  No.10  Adelaide,  No.12 Auckland (NZ),   No.15 Wellington (NZ),   18 Brisbane  (Aus) ,    No. 38 Hong Kong,  No. 40 Singapore,   No.57  Seoul (Korea),  Taipei behind   
Monocle's Quality of Life survey 2019 failed in the top list

https://monocle.com/film/affairs/quality-of-life-survey-top-25-cities-2019/

No.2 Tokyo (Japan),  No.11 Melbourne (Australia), No.13 Sydney,  No.16 Hong Kong,  No.17 Kyoto (Japan),  No.21 Auckland (NZ), No.22 Fukuoka (Japan),  23 Brisbane,  25 Singapore
Deutsche Bank Liveability Survey
not included in the top list
https://www.dbresearch.com/PROD/RPS_EN-PROD/PROD0000000000494405/Mapping_the_world%27s_prices_2019.pdf
 
No. 2 Wellington (NZ),    No. 7 Melbourne ( Australia ),  No.10 Sydney,   No.14 Tokyo  No.16 Auckland (NZ),  No.17 Dubai (UAE), No. 23 Singapore,   No. 26 Saudi Arabia Riyadh,  No. 29 Seoul (Korea),  No. 33 India Bangalore,  No. 39 Malaysia  Kuala Lumpur,   44 Hong Kong,   46 India Delhi,  No. 48   Shanghai (China), No. 55 Beijing
Safe Cities Index (SCI)  2019,   EIU (Economist UK), NEC failed in the top 20 No.1  Tokyo, No.2  Singapore, No.3 Osaka (Japan),  No.5 Sydney (Aus), No. 8 Seoul (Korea), No10 Melbourne, No. 20 Hong Kong  
ArchDaily / The World's Most Livable Cities in 2019 failed in the top 20 No. 3. Auckland, New Zealand, 11. Sydney, Australia,  No.15. Wellington, New Zealand , No.17. Melbourne, Australia  
 The EIU's Global Livability Index Ranking   2018  failed in the top 50 No.2 Melbourne (Australia),  No.3  Osaka (Japan),  No. 7  Tokyo (Japan) ,  No.10       Adelaide  (Australia),   No.12 Auckland (NZ)    Wellington (NZ) ... ... (omitted),  Taipei 58
 The EIU's Global Liveability Index Ranking   2017  failed in the top 50  No.1  Melbourne,  No. 5  Adelaide,  No. 7  Perth,
No. 8 Auckland (NZ),  No.11 Sydney,  No.13  Tokyo,  No.  14  Osaka,  No.16 Brisbane,   No. 20 Wellington (NZ),  No. 35 Singapore,  No.45  Hong Kong,  No.58  Seoul (Korea),  No.60   Taipei  
     

EIU (Economist UK)'s  Global Liveability Index evaluates stability, healthcare, culture&environment,  education,   Infrastructure

 

United Daily News TV (8-23-2015, 8:00 pm, Taiwan) commented tourism is related to a country's living conditions, and analyzed many Taiwanese had trips to Japan because they love to experience high living environment (comments by SHU professor Chen J. Y.).   The tbl. above compares Taiwan's livability with that of other Asian countries.
 

 
Taiwan's soft power  vs.  Asia's soft power

Till 2020, Taiwan has not been included in  Top 30 Soft Power by Portland, etc,  Taiwan's soft power is behind Asian's "world top 20" nations , including Japan, South Korea, Australia, Singapore, New Zealand, China, India, UAE. 
   for details : click Soft Power
 

world best surveys Taiwan's rankings
in top 25~30 list
comparison with
other Asia & Pacific countries
Brand Finance -  Global soft power Index 2022 failed 1. US, 2. UK, 3. Germany, 4. China, 5. Japan, 6. France, 7. Canada, 8. Swiss, 9. Russia, 10. Italy
ISSF's World Soft Power 2022 failed 1. US 2. France, 3. Germany, 4. Japan, 5. UK, 6. Swiss, 7. Italy, 8. S. Korea, 9. Spain, 10. China,11.India,12. Sweden, 13. Canada, 14. Australia, 15. Denmark
Brand Finance -  Global soft power Index 2021 failed 1. Germany,  2. Japan, 3. UK, 4. Canada, 5. Swiss, 6. US, 7 France, 8. China, 9. Sweden, 10. Australia, 11. Korea, 12 Holland, 13.  Russia, 14. Norway, 15. Denmark, 16 NZ, 17. UAE, 18. Iceland,    19. Italia, 20. Singapore
US News: 2021 Best Countries Overall failed 2. Japan,  5. Australia   7. New Zealand
2020 Brand Finance -  Global soft power Index ,
 top 60
n/c https://brandirectory.com  No. 4 Japan, 5 China, 13 Aus,  14 Korea,  18 UAE,  20 Singapore,  22 NZ,  26 SA 27 India
 
 2019/2020 
Top 30 SOFT POWER by Portland
 failed No. 8 Japan, No.9  Australia, No. 17 New Zealand,  No. 19  S Korea, No. 21 Singapore, No. 27 China
US News: 2020 Best Countries Overall
The Best Countries in the World
n/c No.3 Japan, No.5  Australia, No. 11 New Zealand,
No. 15 China, No. 16 Singapore , No. 20  Korea,
No.22 UAE , No.25  India,  No. 26  Thailand,
No. 30  Qatar
2018/2019 Monocle's Soft Power survey  failed No. 3 Japan, No.8  Australia, No. 11 New Zealand, No.15 Korea, No. 19 China,  No. 21  Singapore,  No. 25 India
2018/2019 Soft Power 30 Study by USC Center on Public Diplomacy  failed No.5 Japan, No. 10 Australia, No. 18 NZ, No. 20 S. Korea, No. 21 Singapore, No. 27 China
2017/2018 Monocle's Soft Power survey  failed No. 4 Japan, No.9 Australia, No. 13 New Zealand, No.17 Korea, No. 19 China,  No. 22 Singapore, No. 24 India
2017/2018 Soft Power 30 Study by USC Center on Public Diplomacy  failed No.6. Japan,  No. 8. Australia,  18. NZ,  No. 20 Singapore, No. 21 S. Korea,  No. 25.  China
2016/2017 Monocle's
Soft Power survey
 failed No. 3 Japan, No.6 Australia, No. 13 New Zealand, No.17 Korea, No. 20 China,  No. 23 Singapore, No. 24 India
2015/2016 Monocle's
 Soft Power survey
 failed No. 4 Japan, No.6 Australia, No. 13 New Zealand, No.15 Korea, No. 21 China,  No. 23 Singapore
 

  According to a survey of 2020, Singapore ranks No.1, Japan No.7, Korea No. 9 on "enterprise",  Japan ranks No. 5, China No.10 on "engagement", Korea ranks No. 5 on "digital", Japan ranks No.6, China No. 8 on "culture", No any Asian country ranks top 10 on "education" and "govt."
 

Best Countries overall in 2020:  1 Swiss 2 Canada 3 Japan  4 Germany  5  Australia  6  UK  7 USA  8 Sweden  9 Nederland  10  Norway  11 NZ  12 France  13 Denmark  14  Finland  15 China  16 Singapore  17  Italy  18  Austria  19 Spain  20  Korea  21  Luxembourg   22 UAE  23  Russia  24 Portugal  25  India  26  Thailand  27  Greece  28  Brazil  29  Israel  30  Qatar  31  Saudi Arabia   32 Malaysia   33 Mexico  34  Poland  35  Turkey

 

 

 

 ●  
UNESCO’s list of intangible cultural heritage
  /   
https://ich.unesco.org/en/lists
 

ranks

Asian country heritage items selected
1 China 40
2 Korea 24
3 Japan 20
4 Mongolia 15
5 India 13
6 Indonesia 10
7 Saudi Arabia 8
8 Cambodia 5
9 Philippines 4
10 Qatar 3
10 Malaysia 3
10 Pakistan 3
13  Thai 2
14 Singapore 1
14 Sri Lanka 1
14 Vietnam 1
14 UAE 1

18~3X

Myanmar, Laos, Nepal 0
Taiwan 0
  Taiwan is doing De-sinicization (getting rid of Chinese culture) for political reason.

◆  sg.news.yahoo.com/singapore-hawker-culture-gets-nod-included-unesco-intangible-cultural-heritage-list-140941296.html  12-16-2020: Singapore’s hawker culture was officially approved on Wednesday (16 December) to be inscribed into UNESCO’s list of intangible cultural heritage of humanity.  The biggest thanks must go to the generations of hawkers for nourishing a nation’s stomach and spirits.   Taiwanese like its night market culture, but was not selected.

 

 

 

 

 

 US News & World Report 2022,  Asian countries
world influence - top  rankings  

Cultural Influence No.4  Japan   No. 7  S Korea   10.  Australia  11. China  14. UAE   18. Singapore  20. NZ  24. Thailand    29. Qatar  34. India   36. Saudi Arabia   40. Malaysia Cutting-edge centers of art, entertainment and fashion
Quality of Life 9. Australia   10. NZ   14. Japan  23. Singapore  24. S Korea   25. China   26. UAE    30. Qatar   31. Malaysia   34. Saudi Arabia   35. Thailand   36.Indonesia   37.Philippines  38. India  40.  Vietnam Through all phases of life, these countries treat their citizens well
Heritage 8. India      9. Japan   10. Thailand    13. China   19. Australia  25. NZ     27. Indonesia   29. Singapore   30. S. Korea    A deep vein of history courses through these countries
Adventure 5. Thailand   6. NZ   8. Australia  20. Singapore  25. Philippines  28. Japan    30. Malaysia  popular travel destinations to fulfill your wanderlust
Agility 4. Japan    5. Australia   8. NZ    11. China    13. S Korea    15. Singapore    18. UAE    25. Qatar  adaptable, dynamic, modern, progressive, responsive
Social
Purpose
7. NZ     9. Australia    23. Japan   26. Singapore   human rights, the environment and religious freedom, most progressive, inclusive and committed to social justice
 

 

 US News & World Report 2021,  Asian countries' world influence top 30 rankings  

Cultural Influence No.5  Japan   No. 7  S Korea   11. China  12. UAE   15. Singapore  16. Australia   19. NZ  22. Thailand    25. India Cutting-edge centers of art, entertainment and fashion
Quality of Life 6. Australia   10. NZ   13. Japan  16. Singapore  18. S Korea   23. China   24. UAE    28. Malaysia   29. Thailand Through all phases of life, these countries treat their citizens well
Heritage 6. India   7. Thailand    10. Japan   12 China   23. Australia  25. Vietnam  26. Indonesia   28. NZ A deep vein of history courses through these countries
Adventure 5. Thailand   7. NZ   8. Australia  17. Philippines   18. Singapore  25. Malaysia  28. Japan popular travel destinations to fulfill your wanderlust
Agility 2. Australia   5. Singapore  6. S Korea   7. Japan   9. NZ  13. China  21. UAE   27. Qatar  30. India adaptable, dynamic, modern, progressive, responsive
Open for business 6. NZ   11. Malaysia  12. Australia   14. Singapore   17. Thailand   20. Sri Lanka   21. Vietnam   22. Indonesia   25. Philippines  26. Japan market-oriented countries
Social Purpose 1. Canada  2. Denmark  3. NZ   4. Sweden  5 Nederland  6. Norway   7. Finland  8. Australia  9 Swisss   10. Austria   11. Germany  12. Belgium   13. Ireland  14. UK  15. France  16. Portugal  17. Italy  18. Spain   19. US   20. Japan Residents of certain countries can often come together to support certain causes they feel strongly about: human rights, the environment and  freedom
www.usnews.com/news/best-countries/influence-rankings

 

 


train problems:  news: Taiwan worse train derail accident in decades -  train carrying 490 derails accident, about 50 death, 200 injured : UDN, CTN, Apple Daily editorial、2021-4-3: Serious transportation accidents repeat -  all are SOP ignoring man-made disasters, no one treats seriously the warning message behind each accident, The gov. is good at risk management and focus-shifting, instead of preventive management in advance, all these lead to tragedy again and again. The event is just a tip of a iceberg, Taiwan should establish a culture respecting human life.  Taiwan railway bureau got rigid grading system  and reform failure.  
.............. bus problems:  United Daily, 2021-4-10, editorial: The death rate of traffic accident (8+ per day) is higher than hat of many backward countries.  Large-bus structure is problematic - Jerry-built or bad safety specification. So many gods are hidden in the detail.
..............●  food problems  China Times, editorial, 2021-4-25: Taiwan has imported pork and pig offal in total 1800 ton from the US since Jan. 2021,  however, in all the markets, there's no any pork and pig offal marked "containing controversial Ractopamine" or even "imported from USA".  Another mysterious thing is Agriculture government (Council of Agriculture) says 70% of them were already used for meat processing, but Health government (Ministry Health & welfare) says 70% of them were still in the refrigerating chamber. chinatimes.com/opinion/20210424003140-262101?chdtv

 

   

            
              
   Liberty Times, 6-15-2020, editorial: Taiwanese always love traveling abroad rather than domestically.  Majority of foreign tourists to Taiwan came from China, but most of their consumption-profits are monopolized by Chinese-funded and Chinese-associated businesses.  All these have made Taiwan's tourism industry weak and sluggish-demanded.  It is undeniable Taiwan tourism needs to be improved the following items :

                        (1)  the prices of accommodation, catering and transportation are generally high but the quality is not good, shaping the stereotype that  traveling domestically are not as good as sightseeing abroad.
                        (2)  the tour often lacks
humanistic &
cultural connotations, ethnic groups' traditions, characteristics and lifestyles.  Although each area has its own old streets and night markets, it is  difficult to distinguish one from another.  In short, Taiwan lacks in-depth and exquisite tourism.
                        (3)  the government has not given importance to tourism industry,  "Insufficient resource integration capacity, insufficient investment, and insufficient marketing" .
              ●  The China Times 7-15-2020, former minister of Transportation govt.  陳建宇 : Hotels and travel business were "starved" too long for CovID-19, therefore raise the price a lot to "revenge exploit" customers.  advice :
                        (1)  establishing DMO (
目的地行銷暨管理組織 like Japan and Euro.);
                        (2)  quality first
, implement Market segmentation  Precision marketing
                        (3) 
Recreating a new tourists-friendly environment,  starts from tourist night market, till now the govt. only work on  innovation/renovation of night market's toilet room, the rest is far behind the standard of  int'l metro...  full text:  https://www.chinatimes.com/opinion/20200714004912-262105?chdtv  
             
  Apple Daily, 2021-3-12:  Popular tourists-site Shi-lin night market "miserable street scene" , more bosses than customers, in that “expensive”, "smoke smells", "too homogeneous & unattractive", "delivery platforms are emerging", ... most ever stores closed in recent 30 yrs.
              ● 
Apple Daily, 7-14-2020 editorial: Why do Taiwanese love travel overseas instead of domestically ?  The price is high and quality varies, therefore Taiwanese prefer Japan, Korea and South-East Asia.  Price cutting competition and  low-cost airline  exclude In-depth and exquisite tourism from tour list .  Govt.'s economic relief package only works on avoiding close-down instead of tourism enterprise transformation.   
full text:  https://www.chinatimes.com/opinion/20200714004912-262105?chdtv  

                  ●  Korean ilbe(일베저장소、일베)slams Taiwan's messy & dirty environment,  cultural deprivation、 unpretty women、 the sense of Japanese  identification, which triggers hot argues after mainland Chinese posting Chinese version of it  (Sept. 2020)

 

 CNN 8-1-2019,  Wall Street Journal 7-31-2019,  New York Times, 7-31-2019, : China, an Eye on Elections, bans solo tourists from heading to Taiwan.   Independent UK  8-1-2019:  It is a blow for Taiwan’s tourism industry.   L.A. Times, 8-1-2019: The indefinite suspension is likely to prove a major economic hit to Taiwan, as well as a blow to cultural interplay.  Liberty Times 8-28-2019: Taiwan may loss 35,400 million dollars from the gross annual value of tourism in the second half of 2019.    United Daily (8-17-2019, editorial) : Very most part of Taiwan's current tourism difficult situation is caused by cross-Taiwan-Strait policy.    United Daily (8-22-2019, editorial) : Pension reform might be among key issues in Taiwan's tourism, because public servants, military and education field no longer support domestic travel as much as before.    United Daily (8-23-2019) :  Taiwan president Tsai: tourism won't go old route, current policy is to balance tourists flow, stimulate domestic demand, increase consumption-amount, satisfy tourist's appetite by bubble tea and local cuisine.   United Daily (8-28-2019, Focus) :  Visa-free and allowance can save tourism?  Lots of allowances were given to domestic tourists, but the number of Taiwanese traveling overseas hit new high again and again.   The United Daily 3-7-2019: Taiwan's tourism output value is suffering wallet homicide ! the deficit of foreign exchange is NT1728 billions, the deficit of the number of tourists is 5570 thousands.   Apple Daily, opinion, 12-25-2019: Give up "almozo" policy to promote tourism,   go "quality oriented" route !   Nikkei Asia Review, 4-30-2019: Since 2016, China has attempted to punish Tsai (DPP) by reducing tour groups to Taiwan, but inbound tourists have steadily set records surpassing 11 millions for the first time last year...    The United Daily 10-6-2018 editorial opinion: Taiwan's 'heresy' policy of tourism (subsidies, visa-free) led to 800+ billion dollars decrease of earnings, because of lower consuming ability of South Eastern Asian tourists and smaller number of Chinese tourists.   Apple Daily,  head-page, 12-31-2018:  The amount of tourists spending per day and the number of days tourists staying decreased   The Washington Post at 1-5-2018: (The Chinese government...) "encouraging Chinese tourism to this island" (ps: during KMT in power ~ 2016 ).    New York Times at 2-22-2018: "The Chinese government has discouraged tourism to Taiwan...".   CTV news 3-9-2018 : beautiful island turns into killing island (traffic accidents), Taiwan's tourism might be a long dark night.   Apple Daily, opinion, 2-12-2018: lacking of monument elements, mature cultural creativity, and inexpensive tour-site hotels ...  shallow, careless, low-end quality led to an extremely low return visitor rate to Taiwan.   Apple Daily, Headline news 1-15-2018:  Taiwan tourism collapsed like a snow-slide, the number of tourists to Kenting National Park(墾丁貓鼻頭) dropped 59%,  to Taroko National Gorge (太魯閣) dropped 43%, etc, because of the number of Chinese tourists declined a lot and local people don't like those sites -  Apple Daily opinion 1-17-2018: expensive hotels, crowded traffic, getting ripped-off by greedy shops' ...  UDN opinion 4-11-2018: tourism-related business everywhere are complaining of great hardship (齊喊苦)   ;   food safety issues never end /  The China Times,  editorial 10-20-2018, UDN editorial 12-4-2018.  The United Daily 12-10-2018: tourism deficit expansion!  The number of Taiwanese traveling abroad is more than that of tourists to Taiwan.

 

 

 

                     

pic. middle: This websites-group was ranked No.1 on Baidu of China by "comment Taiwan tourism"( "評論台灣觀光"), 8-3-2019  

 

 

 

 

 

pic. left: This websites-group was ranked No.1 on Baidu of China by "comment Taiwan travel"

( "評論台灣旅遊"), 8-3-2019 

 

 

 

pic. : This websites-group was ranked No.1 on Baidu of China by "comment Taiwan tour", 8-3-2019 

 

   

 

 

 

pic. right: This websites-group was ranked No.1 by "comment Taiwan tourism"

 on US Google, 7-15-2019;

pic. left: This websites-group was ranked No.1 by
 "comment Taiwan travel" on US Google, 8-3-2019

 

 

 

 

 

   This website won't give you fake or beautified information or pictures, many other tourism websites did !
 

    

 


 

Chinese visitors and tourists to Taiwan (in millions) ,  Direct flights  between Chn and TW began at 2008,  DPP (Green) in power from 2016
source:   Nikkei Asia Review, 4-30-2019, Taiwanese government

 

 

Average consumption (USD) daily of foreign tourists
 (Japan, Korea, China, HK&Macau, USA, Singapore, Malaysia)  from 2015 till 2017

pic.: source from TW gov., Apple Daily, Aug., 2019

BBC, UK, 7-31-2019: the number of Chinese tourists (in time) in 2015 is about 4.18 million, dropped to 2.7 million on 2018 (https://www.bbc.com/zhongwen/trad/chinese-news-49178224 7-31-2019)
Telegraph, UK, 7-31-2019: China remains the top source of tourists, with close to 2.5 million visiting last year

 

 

data 2018
area population number of tourists (person in time) times
Hong Kong 7.3 million 65.1 million 1:9
Macau 0.65 million 35.9 million 1 : 55
Singapore 5.6 million 18.5 million 1 : 2.3
Taiwan 23 million 11.25 million 1 : 0.5


 

pic. : This websites-group was ranked No.1 on US Google
by "comment Taiwan tour" or "comment Taiwan travel",
 3-7-2019, 6-22-2018;
top2 at 7-31-2019 

 

pic. : This websites-group was ranked No.1 on US Google
by "comment Taiwan tourism",
7-15-2019, 3-7-2019, 9-4-2018, 6-22-2018 

 

 

pic. : This websites-group was ranked No.1 on Yahoo search
by "comment Taiwan travel",
 3-7-2019, 9-4-2018, 6-22-2018 

 

 

pic. : This websites-group was ranked No.1 on Yahoo search
by "comment Taiwan tourism",
3-7-2019, 9-4-2018, 6-22-2018 

 

pic. : This websites-group was ranked No.1 on US Bing
by "comment Taiwan tourism",
3-7-2019, 9-4-2018, 6-22-2018 

 

 

pic. : This websites-group was ranked No.1 on US Bing
by "comment Taiwan travel",
 3-7-2019, 9-4-2018, 6-22-2018 

 

   

 

  One of the most underrated tourist destinations in Asia

China remaining the top source of tourists to Taiwan is because,  LA Times at 8-1-2019 said that (1) satisfying a curiosity, an important channel for knowing Taiwan (2) flights of no more than 2~3 hours (3) strong cultural and deep historic connection (4) religious, architectural and cultural similarities, the result of migration from China to Taiwan that began hundreds of years ago (5) take home new information from Taiwan’s newspapers, news websites and television channels, all free of censorship unlike on the mainland (6) stoking business.   How about the current status of Taiwan's tourism industries?  Liberty Times (10-31-2019): It's no fun traveling domestically, more Taiwanese would rather spend lots of money on traveling overseas.   Apple Daily (8-3-2019) commented that in these years Taiwan's travel and tourism still rely on old low strategies like price-cutting competition, cut-throat competition, or even ripping-tourists-off frauds.... ; Apple Daily (8-10-2019 論壇) wrote the city view of Shi-Mun-Din(西門町, a major tourism site) of Taipei is messy, even worse than some cities of South-East Asia. United Daily (8-2-2019) said Taiwanese government's allowances given to citizens only cure the symptom not the disease, the budget should be used to improve tourism environment and to build up tourism body, e.g.,  facilities & infrastructure - we only have very little South-East Asian tourists friendly stuffs for them...    UDN (8-23-2019), scholar criticized Taiwan tourism counts on slogans and small-eats of night markets, without a long-term plan.    

 

World Economic Forum (WEF)  <Travel and tourism competitiveness report> released at 9-4-2019 shows Taiwan had the sub-region's largest decline in competitiveness from 30th down to 37th.   In the overall ranking list, Asian country Japan got No.4,  China No.13,  Hong Kong No.14,  Korea No.16, Singapore No.17,  Malaysia No.29,  Thailand No.31,  UAE  No.33,  India No. 34,...
 

Taiwan Travel and tourism competitiveness -  10th on Asia
category Taiwan's rankings and/or score comparison
prioritization of travel and tourism   No75  Singapore No.6 ,  Hong Kong No. 11
Natural & cultural resources No.58  score 2.6 China  No.1, score 6.0 , France No.2,  5.0,  Spain  No.3, 5.7,   Japan No.7, 5.3,   Indonesia No.18,  Thailand No.21,  Korea No.24,  Vietnam No.26,  Malaysia No.31,  HK No.40,  Philippines No.46,  Sri Lanka No.52,  Nepal No.56
Natural resources  No. 87 Hong Kong No. 42, Singapore No.120
 
cultural resources & business travel No. 36  score 2.6 China No1, score 7.0
price competitiveness No. 78 China 5.7
Health & Hygiene  No.43,  score 6 score worse than Korea, Japan, Mongolia
international openness No. 60 only better than China, Mongolia
Safety & security No. 26 human resource & labor market: Taiwan No.18
 ps: Compared to the report of 2017,  Taiwan significantly tightened visa requirements (37th down to 119th), waning cultural resources and business travel (26th to 36th) and recalibrated figures showing a drastic reduction in protected areas (20th to 118th).

For full details :  http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_TTCR_2019.pdf

 

 

pic.: In World's Best Restaurants list, In Asia area, Australia, Singapore, Japan, India, Thailand, China, Korea are winners , Taiwan was not selected.

 

 

 

pic.: In Asia's 50 Best Restaurants, Singapore, China, Japan, Thailand are big winners 

 

 

pic. above: Taiwan's restaurants were loser or behind in EATER's "world best restaurants awards",  CNN "world's best new restaurants" and Economists EIU "Global Food Security Index".

 

 

   ●   Michelin Stars (2020) comparison among Asian cities

Michelin Guide cities

number of starred restaurants

number of 3-stars restaurants

number of 2 stars

1 star

Tokyo 226 11 48 167
Hong Kong,
Macau
85 10 19 56
Kyoto 100 8 21 77
Osaka 111 3 16 79
Seoul 31 2 7 22
Singapore (新加坡) 44 2 5 37
Taipei  (台北) 26 1 6 19
Shanghai (上海) 23 1 2 20

 

 

 

According to  World Economic Forum (WEF)  <Travel and tourism competitiveness report> (released at 4-6-2017), Taiwan's most important indexes for promoting tourism, like "Attractiveness of Natural Assets" (parks, beaches, mountains, wildlife, etc) ranks world No.87, "Natural Resources" ranks No.55,   "Environmental Sustainability" ranks No.75 (No.69 in 2015), "Price Competitiveness" ranks No. 46, "Hotel Price Index" ranks No. 89 (82 in 2015), Taiwan got "n/a" on China's strong indexes such as "World heritage natural sites" as well as "World heritage cultural sites" (world top 5).  Taipei mayor Ko just mocked tourism of Hong Kong and Singapore, however, they are very ahead in "Business Environment" and "Ground & Port infrastructure" (world top 2), "Airport  infrastructure" (world No.5 & 6 vs Taiwan no. 42 ), "Safety & security" ( No.5 and No.6 ) 。 Taiwan has excellent scores on "Mobile Network coverage", "ATM", etc, but those least likely are main attractiveness to international sightseers that Taiwan needs most.   According to government statistics "visitor arrivals by purpose in 2016",  only 7.61% foreigners came for business, conference, exhibition, most visitors (70.73%) are for pleasure, so we should not focus on WEF's overall score and ranking for Taiwan. 

BBC UK, The SUN (2-13-2017):  "Bus Crash Horror !" Taiwan's "safety standards need to be improved".   A few days later another fatal tour-bus accident occurred.   The major official newspaper of the ruling Chinese Communist Party, People's Daily  (8-4-2016 editorial ):  <Chinese tourists not dare to visit Taiwan in the future  without safety assurance>  / Taiwan tour disasters are sort of man-made disasters , Taiwan tourism's major problems  include loopholes in law and regulation careless mistakes in administration or not-good-enough system of organization, other malpractices are traveling load-bearing capacity (旅遊承載能力)road-traffic safety 、aviation safety 、road maintenance 、safety standard for tour bus 、Modified Automobiles/Fix-up tour busLow-end tour groups tragic accidents happening again and again open Pandora's box, too many tourist victims reveal Taiwan tourism's problems, Taiwan authority tried to do something (亡羊補牢) each time a tragic accident occurred, but it seemed late and same kind of tragedies never cease.   A big gas-cylinder LPG-explosion in Fengjia (逢甲) night market (known as largest night-market business district in Taiwan) proved this again, the China Times (7-19-2017) lashed out all this sort of night-market districts across Taiwan have similar safety problem, enforcement officials even don't know  which is more important - grass-roots or common-people' making money or public security.    Food safety is another major issue, good-taste is not equal to safety, Taiwan's most famous Toxicology expert & professor Yin M.D. (顏宗海, U. London ) advised that "Minimize the times of dining out to protect your health !

Taiwan has never reached top in  <Travel and tourism competitiveness report> in past years.  Taiwanese media always reported one overall ranking based on all indexes, but, only about 7% of international visitors came Taiwan for business purpose (Liberty Times, official statistics, 9-5-2015), about 85% Chinese visited Taiwan for tourism (recreation, pleasure) purpose, so Taiwan needs to focus those tourism-related indexes in world reports.  According to <Travel and tourism competitiveness report> of 2015,   Taiwan's index "Prioritization of Travel & Tourism" was ranked world No.82,  "Country Brand Strategy" was ranked world No. 125,   the ranking of "Tourist service infrastructure" is No. 77,  "Quality of Natural Environment" is No.75, "Environmental Sustainability" No.69, "Natural Resource" No.62,  "Hotel Price Index" is world No. 82,  "Travel and tourism industry development" is No. 53, "Airport Density" No.113, besides, "World heritage natural sites" and "World heritage cultural sites"  both n/a are put in the last position.  Will world tourists come for some Taiwan's high-score items, e.g., "quality of railroad" (world No.7), " internet users" (world No.24) ?   Taiwan likely lack confidence in its travel sights and historic spots, a latest tourism advertisement (by John Wu &  Kimura Takuya, costs USD 1.7 million, Sept.-Dec. 2015) being broadcasted in Japan targets small-eaters, instead of sightseers.    Besides, World Economic Forum gave a high score to Taiwan's "HIV prevalence" (Taiwan dropped to No.59 in 2017's report),  but WEF forgot Taiwan is notorious for HIV and AIDS Social Stigma issue, USA Country Reports on Human Rights practices (released at 6.26.2015) stated 60 percent of HIV carriers in Taiwan left their jobs due to coercion and bullying (  Taiwanese personality ).  The United Nations (UNAIDS) concerns about AIDS patients' education human rights in Taiwan (July 2016).    Years ago Taiwan banned, but communist China welcomed Basketball Hall of Famer Earvin "Magic" Johnson.


Referring to another global famous report, 2014/2015 <Country Brands Index>, Taiwan's score is below average perceptions in both the Status and Experience dimensions (indexes  including "Value for money", "Range of attractions", "Resort & lodging options", "Would like to visit for a vacation", "Food"; "Historical points of interest", "Heritage", "art & culture", "Natural beauty", etc).

Some other Asian countries without rich heritages (similar to Taiwan) reached excellent achievements on tourism & travel.  On 2015's <Travel and tourism competitiveness report>, Japan's ranking is world No.9 (Prime Minster Abe is building the nation upon tourism strategy), Singapore No.11, Hong Kong No.13, mainland China No.17, on the list of 2011, Singapore was ranked world No.10, Hong Kong No.12, Australia No. 13, New Zealand No. 19, Japan No.22, Korea No. 32, Malaysia No.35.    

United Daily News TV (8-23-2015, 8:00 pm, Taiwan) commented tourism is related to a country's living conditions, and analyzed many Taiwanese had trips to Japan because they love to experience high living environment (comments by SHU professor Chen J. Y.).  But, UK's Economist Intelligence Unit  "Liveability Cities" report (Aug. 2015) ranks Taipei world No.60 (Taipei's Tourism leader 簡余晏 8-20-2015 expressed the ranking will go up in next year, hopefully), Mercer's "Quality of Living" ranks Taipei world No. 83, and gives another city Tai-Chung world No.99, Monocle's "Quality of Life" top list includes no Taipei.   The China Times reported (9-21-2015) air pollution ( PM10 : 41ug/m3 ) and environmental quality in Taiwan both were ranked almost the last position in OECD countries.  (by Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics, Executive Yuan, R.O.C. TAIWAN)   Taiwan university - college of Public health's associate dean: Taiwan's PM2.5 air-pollution-control standard is 15 years behind, and hence create a legitimate environment to kill people (1-4-2016 L.T. http://news.ltn.com.tw/news/life/paper/945998).   BBC UK, The SUN (2-13-2017): Taiwan's transportation "safety standards need to be improved".


  One of the
fastest-growing tourist destinations in the world

In spite of these bad scores, MasterCard study (6-2015), in terms of the number of international overnight visitor arrivals last year, ranked Taipei 11th in the world and sixth in the Asia-Pacific region (ps: see tbl below).  Taipei is fast-growing tourist destination over the past five years.  The annual growth rate 14.9% is ranked world No.1, In terms of international tourist spending last year, Taipei was ranked 11th in the world and fifth in the Asia-Pacific region. Last year, international tourists in Taipei spent US$9.28 billion  (Taipei Times, 6-6-2015) . Euromonitor International released at 1-28-2017 "Top 100 City Destinations" ranking in terms of international tourist arrivals in 2015, Taipei ranks No. 14 (higher than Tokyo , Seoul), Taichung No. 97. (No.1 Hong Kong, No.2 Bangkok, No. 4 Singapore, No. 6 Macau)

 

Taiwan's tourism has been evaluated as non competitiveness, but surprisingly attracts huge number of tourists and money, Why  ?

The Washington Post at 1-5-2018: (The Chinese government...) "encouraging Chinese tourism to this island".   The China Times (中國時報, 7-14-2015) points out, increasing communist Chinese tourists led to Taiwan's fast growth on tourism. ( 這「反映出開放陸客的成果」。)  In accordance with the Liberty Times(7-7-2015), the number of Chinese tourists is 90,000 in 2008, 540,000 in 2009, 3,330,000 in 2014 (ps: correct number should be : 3,987,152), besides, tourists from China's Hong Kong & Macau (1,375,770 persons) also help a lot.   Is this part of communist China's widely-known political policy "Allowance of profits" to Taiwan("讓利"政策)? 


  Alarm-bell sounds ?!

 

Some Taiwanese Legislators worried and criticized (7-7-2015) that Taiwan's tourism depending on red Chinese tourists may causes serious national security problems  ――  They probably reminded of Japanese "tours for advice & information" ("參謀旅行") before having invaded China in WWII.   The China Times (5-15-2017): Losing huge number of Chinese tourists resulted in closing many local businesses (hotels, travel agencies, tour bus companies, shopping stores ).   CTI TV news(5-16-2017, 9:30am): Chinese tourists' amount of daily consumption  is USD 120, other countries' average amount USD 48;   However, The New York Times (5-18-2017):  a declining number of Chinese tourists can be offset, to some extent, with visitors from other Asian markets.    The United Daily (8-27-2016) editorial: The relationship between Taiwan and China falling back leads to a misery & cutting-throat situation of tourism industry, and soon will affect other related industries - hotel, aviation, restaurants and retails.    The China Times(12-19-2016): Taiwan's tourism industry looks like a great boom, but tourism business refuted it " all are fake !", The number of Chinese tourists in time in 2016 decrease 700 thousands, and the number-range keeps dropping big, in average, Chinese tourists stay 7.5 days (around Taiwan), others 3.5 days (mostly in Taipei),  Chinese spent USD227.58 per day (52% on shopping, far more than other nation's), only next to Japanese USD227.59.   The United Daily (12-21-2015): Taiwan needs attractions - better cultural creativity, value-added elements.  According to Central Bank of ROC, Taiwan's tourism balance fell from USD 0.11 billion (favorable balance in 2014/ Q2) down to USD 0.498 billion (unfavourable balance in 2015/ Q2) -ps4 Next TV (1-22-2016) : Chinese tourists with high consuming ability only go to China partnership businesses, Taiwan failed to earn their money and collect enough taxes, besides, China travel agencies owe tour fee up to several billions.  Taiwan should worries and needs diversification of risk :  attracting new tourists Korean, South-East Asian, Middle-Easterners, Westerners, instead of putting all eggs in one basket expecting more Chinese tourists.

It's a challenge !  official report found the number of American tourists is only 458,691, Euro. tourists even fewer - only 264,880 (UDN TV (8-23-2015): many westerners regard Taiwan as an electronics factory ... ) .   The total number of Westerners is only 1/7 ~1/8 the number of Chinese tourists.   Taiwan also failed to attract Asians/Easterners other than Japan (1,634,790 persons),  even Taiwanese prefer traveling overseas, in last year, the number of tourists visiting Taiwan is 9.91 million, but Taiwanese went overseas is up to 11.84 million, foreign countries earned Taiwanese money 159.6 billion

Why?? and what's the solution?

TVBS (7-14-2015, 9-15-2015 8:59pm) : scholars and officials advised cultural creativity cooperating with tourism, and enhancing soft power to promote Taiwan's tourism industry, according to UK based Monocle's global Soft Power Survey (2010/2011~2017), Taiwan's soft power even lost mainland China, and some other Asian countries, including Japan, South Korea, Australia, Singapore, New Zealand, India, UAE.   Taiwanese government focused on political elections rather than cultural issues for years, soft power won't grow big overnight.

Unlike some tourism websites' beautified, glamor photo & words (ps 00), this non-profit site gives only true info. and unbiased critiques on Taiwan's tourism & travel.  Some small countries'  (Croatia, Hong Kong (14.16%), Jordan, Thailand(10.87%)) proportion of tourism income in GDP reached more than 10%, Malaysia, Singapore reached 7%~8% (ref. Liberty Times 10-22-2015, UDN TV 8-23-2015), certainly Taiwan needs forward thinking instead of focusing on "short-swing trading" & benefit, which may harm tourism industry, Taiwan requires accelerating the improvements of those weak elements mentioned in this web-site, so as to ignore the pressures (UDN, 2-25-2016: the number of tour-groups Chinese tourists may reduce 30%~60% daily) from China for political reasons.   

United Daily, opinion, 12-30-2017 : Taiwan's foreign exchange earnings from tourism decreased 300 billion dollars.  To promote tourism just in number of tourists, Taiwan's new mission “New Southbound Policy”  gave up the national principle of mutual benefit and equity, led to illegal drug trafficking and neighbor countries' anger, and illegal collectivized-workings by foreign "visitors".    Taiwan's advertisements only focus on "cheat eats" by using some widely-known stars.   All these remind us a Chinese tourists slang "you will regret for your entire life if coming to Taiwan".

Woody Allen described New York as "beautiful women ...", in contrast, a money-oriented Taiwan can not build the country an elegant graceful "woman".   To promote tourism, Taiwan probably need to use tourists' curiosity (works only once or at most twice), or to attract 'lower class' people, or still need China's "encouraging Chinese tourism" communist's political policy "Allowance of profits".

 

◆  Taiwanese health is much important than making tourism money, Taiwan adm. should put more efforts on food safety and pollution issues.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Taiwan government's 2 solutions to save tourism

(1) "in depth" tour - just a slogan, equals to give up

the "patient" / UDN, opinion, 10-3-2017

(2) “New Southbound Policy” - equals no borders, cheap prostitutes and frauds from South-Eastern Asia countries

 invaded and occupied sex market. /

CTN, headline, 10-17-2017.

 

UDN 10-20-2017: scholars advised:
(1) new image and positioning, street food/night

markets is no longer good enough.
(2) demassification & niche marketing, specific strategy

 for eco-tourism.  cheap-price or duty-free probably

can't save TW tourism.  

 

 

PIC:  Without Chinese tourists, Taiwan's foreign exchange earnings
 decreased 267 billions (NT dollars)  per yr.  / The China Times,  10-4-2017

The number of tourists to Taipei attractions dropped sharply 2.7 million in upper yr.
 / United Daily, 10-20-2017

 

 

 


  ●  Taiwan's poor creativity and culture can help its tourism industry as scholars advised ??
  
  


Taiwan government logo

 

       

Western (Canadian) logo appeared earlier
 

    

    Taiwan state-owned enterprise logo
   
pic. right:  Western logo

          
logo designed by Taiwan's national university     
  
pic. right: Korea Seoul city logo
 

 


Pic. : Ranking No.1 on Google by English keyword "comment Taiwan tourism" at  9-4-2018, 11-9-2015,  6-6-2016, 1-1-2017, 1-27-2018.


Pic. No.1 "comment Taiwan travel" on google, 12-8-2016, 12-15-2015,  3-22-2016, 1-1-2017, 1-27-2018..


Although Telegraph (Jan. 2017) mentioned Taipei's
 "pioneering creative scene",  however, in fact ......

Pic. above-left: Taiwan's college paper, professor, and tourism leader both advised : culture is absolute a value-added & critical element in Taiwan Tourism industry” (United Daily, 12-11-2015).   Scholar comments that Taiwan needs attractions - better cultural creativity (The United Daily 12-21-2015).  TVBS (7-14-2015, 9-15-2015) : scholars and official advised Taiwanese cultural creativity cooperating with tourism, and  enhancing soft power to save Taiwan tourism.  The China Times (9-20-2015) editorial : "Culture (ps: cultural creativity) is best element to establish a country brand".  However, Taiwan's cultural creativity is poor.   For instance, pic. left is the logo of Taiwan government, since 11-9-1993, next 3 are logo of Canadian Pacific Rail, since 1968 till out-of-flavour, so it's a cheap-copy suspect.   Taiwan's official document states their logo "easy to identify and associate with Taiwan's brand ... a simple shape and modernized & internationalized, aesthetic design " ; but, exactly on the contrary, it's neither modernized, nor as aesthetical simple as CPR's logo... 

Pic. above-right : Taiwan's another 2 official logos have similar problems easy to be associated with world famous logos.
Government took the lead to plagiarize, and ignored copy-rights, Taiwan becomes "an island of Plagiarism" / Liberty Times 4-6-2016.


About Taiwan's travel & tourism

   

    

   Transportation   click https://intlhumanrights.com/TaiwanTransportation.htm

                 

 

 

 

 

 

 

●● PIC: moving coffins and flying coffin / 2010-2016

   

    

  entertainment/recreation services in Taiwan

massage

 

 


 

 

   pic. left: Taiwanese massage / Zola Zu's cartoon, exhibited in Japan, Israel, and Taiwan (originally printed in the China Times)

 

 pic. right: hidden erotic deals in massage parlors
/  Zola Zu's cartoon applying the foot-massage sign

 

Click to read  Massages in Taiwan/ Chinese version , Taiwanese massage /English version.

Taiwan's phony crack down on prostitution /English version.

erotic Thailand massage in Taiwan


foot massage in Taiwan HuaXi Street

台灣觀光旅遊廣告
 

Pic. left : body massage (Dragon-phoenix Town Thai Parlor) ads. are everywhere in Taipei;
many Vietnamese, Communist Chinese girls/women entered this market


Pic. right:  foot massage - Hua-Shi Street hard working girls / masseuse concentrated on customers' feet

 

 

 

 

   

    

 Sight-seeing in Taiwan   Taiwan ads bet on attracting small-eaters, instead of sightseers. 
   

 228 Peace Monument for political massacre

 Taiwanese Presidential Office Building

Taiwanese government - Control Yuan

    pic: 228 Peace Monument  ―   was not best award winner in the int'l monument design contest,  but was selected as a sign for that massacre event.

  ◎   pic: Taiwanese Presidential Office Building ― this original Japanese governor office which was a symbol of Japanese power's colonial domination sparked a controversy about moving to new place for transitional justice.  Taipei mayor Ko also stated it's really weird !  

    pic: Taiwanese government - Control Yuan, functioning as high-ranking officials supervisor, but it together with Legislator Yuan (like Congressmen house) were criticized as "prostitutes house" by media. 

     

  World Economic Forum (WEF)  <Travel and tourism competitiveness report> released at 9-4-2019 shows Taiwan ranks No.87 in "Natural resources",   No.58 in "Natural & cultural resources".

 

   World Economic Forum (WEF)  <Travel and tourism competitiveness report> (released at 4-6-2017) shows, Taiwan's most important indexes for promoting tourism, like "Attractiveness of Natural Assets" (parks, beaches, mountains, wildlife, etc) ranks world No.87, "Natural Resources" ranks No.55.   In 2015's report , Taiwan's "Prioritization of Travel & Tourism" was ranked world No.82,  "Quality of Natural Environment" No.75,  "Natural Resource" No.62.

   Forbes (3-5-2017) "3 Things Chinese Tourists Are Surprised To Find When They Travel Abroad To Taiwan" : "It’s not very modern !",  " the wealth wasn’t invested in architecture. So the cities are full of decayed apartment blocks.... the housing isn’t as good.”.  The Liberty Times and the China Times (3-10-2017) : local scholars described Taiwan as "ugly cities".

   Taipei City mayor Dr. Ko pointed out during a trip to Japan that Taipei is short of aesthetic elements or sense of beauty (欠缺城市美學/美感). / The China Times 1-26-2016.

   TVBS (9-15-2015) : Unlike China, Taiwan has no spot of attraction (「亮點」).     Apple Daily's Next magazine (12-16-2015) reported that government's statistics found the No.1 attraction tourists visited is night markets, instead of cultural or heritage sites or any national beauty.  The cover page of red China's New Weekly (新周刊, 2012) wrote "The best attraction of Taiwan is the people" (ps:  Human rights in Taiwan  ), mainland Chinese newspaper in early days mentioned Taiwan has no good view. (台灣景觀不「亮」)      Taiwan's latest tourism commercial being broadcasted in Japan bets on Taiwanese foods, you only see the Japanese star (木村拓哉 Kimura Takuya) keeps eating Taiwanese small eats and shaved ice with mango, nothing about sightseeing - this supports an argument, Taiwan has no sight of attractions, Taiwan has little choice but to attract small eaters instead of sightseers.

   Professors in Tourism like to teach a case study ―  the TV drama "Grandpas Over Flowers"(花樣爺爺) let Korean see Taiwan's beauty from certain angle and increases the number of Korean tourists by 50% (compared to that of previous year).   But some mainland Chinese college students also complained in TV talk-shows that Taipei does not looks like those exterior/scenes in TV soap operas they saw before coming Taiwan.

    Taiwan, indeed looks much worse than Niagara Falls or Grand Canyon in the US,  mountain view in Swiss, or poetic & romantic Paris in France, ancient city Roma in Italia ......

    In spite of so many critiques, somehow some media like Business Insider (6-2015) still introduced some places for tourists:

    ◎  Hehuan Mountain and Ali Mountain are two top-rated scenic spots on TripAdvisor. (阿里山等)    ◎  Sun Moon Lake(日月潭) 

    ◎ Kenting National Park(墾丁).   9 nationall. parks, which make up 8.6% of its land.  Taroko National Gorge (太魯閣) alone is worth spending at least two days hiking its numerous scenic trails.

    ◎ hot springs Beitou outside of Taipei, and Jiaoxi in Yilan (北投宜蘭等溫泉)

 

 

   

    

 Architectures in Taiwan

      
     
Taiwan is a free country, however, most architectures show no free-style designs or boundless creativity, they are just real estates or huge money properties.

       Forbes (3-5-2017) "3 Things Chinese Tourists Are Surprised To Find When They Travel Abroad To Taiwan" : "It’s not very modern !",  " the wealth wasn’t invested in architecture. So the cities are full of decayed apartment blocks.... the housing isn’t as good.”.  The Liberty Times and the China Times (3-10-2017) : local scholars described Taiwan as "ugly cities".

 

◆   Taipei Performing Arts Center was selected as one among "the transformative buildings set to shape the world" in 2021, in that the eye-catching building has a planet-like sphere protruding from one side - will undoubtedly serve as a contemporary landmark for the Taiwanese capital;  however, some look-alike sphere buildings were already designed earlier  ― all "plug" into a central cube
 

 

 Taipei Performing Arts Center

www.world-architects.com/en/architecture-news/insight/year-in-architecture-2020

slideshare.net/manishkhageeshrestha/desing-concept

ge.com/news/reports/sphere-of-turbulence-whats-hiding-inside-a

 

 

      ◎ Taipei 101 tower  /  Taiwan's pride and landmark, Taipei 101 tower, was ranking world No.1 highest construction cost (about NT55.8 billion) business/office building by Global Property Guide on April 26, 2011.  But The Huffington Post on 9-17-2012 comments Taipei 101 tower as one of "Ugly Skyscrapers around the world".  Its aesthetics elements (like gradation, repetition, texture, shape, rhythm, etc) are obviously much worse than Malaysia's twin towers or Shanghai's Grand Hyatt.  Anyway, Taipei 101 boasts the world's fastest elevator.

       ◎  Dr. Sun Yat-Sen (National Father) Memorial Hall in Taiwan /  it dramatically enlarges Chinese-culture roof, but cancels "dougong" or brackets, to show elegant, mild personality, which is totally different from, or even opposite the icon of communist China  ――  China's Pavilion in EXPO Shanghai, namely "Oriental Crown"  ――  dramatically increase huge number of "dougong" or brackets, layer upon layers, but without roof at all.   click for China Pavilion in EXPO Shanghai ...details

        ◎ Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall (October 31, 1887 ~ 1975  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiang_Kai-shek ) Former president Chiang was China's leader to fight against Japan's invasion during WWII (ref. to <Economist>,  8-15-2015 )

      ◎  228 Peace Mem. Park for victims in 228 Incident/political event, one of the most important events in Taiwan's modern history, the massacre marked the beginning of the Kuomintang's (KMT) White Terror period in Taiwan...

 Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall

Sun Yat-sen Mem. Hall Taiwan

Dr Sun (National Father) Memorial Hall
   Nation's Father, Dr. Sun Yat-sen Mem. Hall
 (Taiwan) 


   China's icon - China Pavilion in EXPO Shanghai, namely, Oriental Crown
 (China)

      pic: Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall   pls. note the name on the mem. gateway "Great Kai-shek (大中至正)" had already been rewritten as "Square of Freedom".

        pic: The personality of Sun Yat-sen Mem. Hall
                     reflecting introversive,

 calmness-loving tradition, 
                     opposites that of communist China's icon,
                     Oriental Crown (The China Pavilion at EXPO)                  an aggressive and  domineering look.

ps: only 3 authentic calligraphy works by Dr. Sun were collected in the hall.

 

 

 

   

    

 Expenses

         World Economic Forum (WEF)  <Travel and tourism competitiveness report> released at 9-4-2019 shows Taiwan ranks No.78 in "price competitiveness".

        According to 2015 Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Report, Taiwan's "hotel price index" ranks world No. 82, "Purchasing power parity" ranks world No. 64,  "price competitiveness" ranks No. 38.  (No.1. Iran, No.2. Egypt, 3. Indonesia)

        UK's Economist Intelligence Unit - Liveability Country Level Index (2015), evaluates "Cost of Living" of Taipei as "72" (scores 1~131, "1" means the cheapest, e.g., Mexico City is "73") In Swiss UBS's "most expensive cities" report, Taipei's commodity price was ranked No. 26  -  but in last time's report Taipei's ranking was No. 42.

        FOX news web-site (USA) at Nov. 27, 2011 selected Taipei as one of ten "Top Budget Travel Destinations for 2012"  (the list includes Egypt, San Diego, Canada, Belize, San Antonio, Poland, Taipei, Kansas city, Athens, etc )for hotel price NT4380, the best time to visit Taipei is Oct. and Nov. for better climate . 

        But, latest information (The China Times, 9-14-2015) shows the average price of 5 star hotels for Taiwanese tourists is NT dollars10494 (more than double of FOX news reported price), price of 4 star hotels is NT5591, some Taiwanese hence prefer to travel in Japan for cheaper expenses.

      

   

    

  Arts & cultural creativity  ――  National Palace Museum (故宮)

   

  Taiwan's United Daily (聯合報 11-30-2020) editorial points out : The pro-independence DPP ruling party has regarded NPM as a sting in the eye or a thorn in its side for a long time, for political reason.  (udn.com/news/story/7338/5053545?from=udn-catehotnews_ch2 DW (Germany), 2022-8-17: Taiwan considers evacuating cultural artifacts amid China tensions; National Palace Museum denied these rumors in a statement.  dw.com/en/taiwan-considers-evacuating-cultural-artifacts-amid-china-tensions/a-62836646   Global Times, 2022-8-9:  CNN on July 30 revealed that "in the event of an evacuation, the museum said it would focus on saving around 90,000 relics from its 700,000-strong collection, prioritizing artifacts of higher value and those that take up less space...  to the US and Japan.... it hard to dispel public concerns....

 

  UK's Telegraph.co at 3-13-2015 :  "Curiously, one of the world’s greatest collections of Chinese antiquities is not in China – but across the Strait in Taiwan.".  (ps: in Taiwan's National Palace Museum (故宮), but foreigners most likely can't see the value of those Chinese calligraphic works )  
 

   But, Google's top ranking (2-11-2020) website ChinaHighLights has different information - Taiwan's National Palace Museum, only about 1,700 pieces are on display at a time.   China's Palace Museum,  less than 1% of total collection 1,862,690 pieces are on display at any one time.    For further details please read : The Beijing Palace Museum's collection is much bigger https://www.chinahighlights.com/beijing/forbidden-city/vs-taipei-national-palace-museum.htm

    SHU professor (陳家瑜) in Tourism expressed the US and Korea attract tourists by their culture and creativity being exported to the whole world via movies and television, etc.   A paper "The study of the influence of Mainland tourists on Taiwan tourism industry by Ming Chuan University (郭慶萍, 駱芬美教授): "as the former president of Taiwan Tourism Association, Mr. Yen, said “culture is absolute a added-value critical in Taiwan Tourism industry”", Taiwan's cultures promote tourism sustainability.

   Taiwan's national palace museum is a place being worthy of visiting, world largest collection of ancient Chinese arts ―   treasures in painting, calligraphy, statuary, ceramics, bronzes, jade,  laquerware, etc, are on rotation to be exhibited, so, if  tourists love to see all of them, need to come Taiwan many times.   The China Times (3-17-2016): argues about who owns NPM's treasures? KMT? ROC Taiwan? or China?  leader of NPM expressed she won't hand it in to China ...

   Taiwanese government named those 5000 years treasures as "Chinese Creativity", but, today's Taiwanese creativity is weak and poor, ...  

   According to latest statistics till Aug., '15, the number of tourists visiting NPM fell down 220 thousands compared to that in the same time of last year.    Likely it's because younger or aged 30-39 tourists (major part of visitors - according to papers) are not too interested in old stuffs. 

<NPM (故宮)>  creative products

 comments

ps

Alessi "the Chin Family"

 
  (1) <NPM> cooperates with Japan, Italy, hence, NPM's products are not purely Taiwanese or Chinese flavor.
 (2)  Mr. Chin got  slant eye (or "raising eyebrows"), it's western view-point, the Oriental usually don't draw that way.

 



Taiwan's tourists guidebook (pic. above)   
calls 5000 yrs treasures
  "Chinese Creativity" .

How about "Chinese Creativity"

by today's Taiwanese ??

"Jadeite Cabbage" tray-pillow for
 chop-sticks to rest on
(「翡玉白菜」筷架)

 

 (1) most products directly use antique-art shape.
 (2) At least 20 years ago, various assorted dedicated vegetables and fruits  glass chopsticks tray-pillow already were made-in-Japan (best-sellers too) .

 

Don Dynasty ladies picture slippers
(唐朝仕女拖鞋)

 

just directly applied antique pictures on products.

<NPM> should designs Chinese treasures, and makes witty, humorous artworks  to represent Taiwan's modern arts.   Western tourists suppose like to buy souvenir with Chinese culture & flavor created by ourselves.    "Mercenaries" cannot represent Taiwan to Olympics.

 

Critique -

 

 


Taiwan's creativity? a fly in each urinals   ― you also can see dark-green-fly prt.-drawings in Swiss toilets everywhere, every man hates that dirty insect in white environment, so aimed and shoot (piss) it; but Taiwan's fly is a cute, colorful scarab beetle ......

 

 

 
Cultural & creative products
in National Palace Museum

(click for Chinese version)

 

   Taiwan needs boundless creativity and

vivid imagination

    ( <故宮>的文化創意商品   簡評

                ........「西方眼中的東方鳳眼)

    printed in the United Daily News, 2008,

       by Zola Zu, FECO president Taiwan

 

    

 


Ancient Chinese ladies picture printed in slippers or cups,
in there see no

clever idea, those are just avg.

cartoon image simplifying

old painting.


   

    

   Best-Buy Shopping:  outlet world best brand clothes in Taiwan .

Dept Stores/ Malls

At end of 2016,  suspiciously contaminated foodstuffs from Japan Fukushima Nuclear Accident area being already available in a number of major markets and Dept. Stores ( SOGO, Breeze, Taipei 101 Jasons, etc ) angers Taiwanese people, hence, premier of Taiwan government announced there's no time-table to lift the ban for foods from Jpan's Nuclear Accident area (福島、茨城、群馬、櫪木、千葉5縣).
According to 2015 Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Report, Taiwan's Purchasing power parity index was ranked world No. 64, however, in contrast with large department stores or malls, outlet stores in Taiwan are quite popular.

Department stores or malls are comparatively empty (except small-eat street, supermarket, and in anniversary discount days), some widely known department stores failed to pass security check again and again, e.g., Breeze Center was reported by media in recent years - United Daily (聯合報)11-13-2015、Epoch Times (大紀元) 10-09-2013、11-21-201310-15-2012...

Major dept. store's customer service may not be always good, e.g., SOGO Taipei took more than one month to reply customer's unbiased email. (12-19-2016).

Outlet  stores:

 

  
  

     1-21-2017,   <the Liberty Times, Weekender 自由時報>  /   Happy Shopping in outlet malls  !
  

     2-9-2017,  <China Times Weekly 時報周刊 >


 

Out Let contact Brands - attractions address / location
麗寶台中 outlet mall 04-3702-2888 Alessi, ABC-mart, Levis, Citizen, "鬼洗", etc, in total 120 brands

Exclusive brands:  sapporo drug, Japanese Puding 北海道天使布丁、"北海道新發現"、及Japanese noodle 北海道拉麵"次郎長"、"虎鐵", etc

 
Taichung 后里福容路201
華泰名品城Gloria outlet (US style) 03-273-8666 Totally 167 brands,  Exclusive 20 brands, Jack & Jones, Palladium, Lanvin, Level 6ix, Maison Promax, "野獸國", Guess, Lock&Lock,  etc TaoYuan 中壢春德路189
MITSUI outlet  park 三井林口 (Japanese style) 02-2606-8666 220 brands, Porsche Design, agnes b, Cath Kidston, Stayreal, les enphants, "山本耀司" , etc  New Taipei City 林口文化三路一段356
Leeco Taichung 04-2258-5166 Brand Off Tokyo, Arnold Palmer, Traveller,  etc TaiChung City 市政路480
Taichung 日曜天地 04-3611-2366 Coach, Roots, North face, Prada, Gucci, 150 brands TaiChung City 自由路二段94
高雄義大 07-656-8100 All Saints, Michael Kors, Desigual, top-brands, totally 700 brands Kaohsiung Cityb學府路1段12

 

 

  
   Aug. 5, 2015,  <the China Times>  /  newly-open outlet malls
 

 

Gloria outlets (華泰名品城) -  TaoYuan city : about 260 brands, open in Q4 2015
三井 outlet park - New Taipei City : about 200 brands, open in Q1 2016
麗寶台中 outlet mall - Tai-Chung City: about 104 brands, open in Q3 2016

  
   Nov. 3, 2013,  <United Daily News> 
 

  

   Taipei Leeco outlet , 2 branches (Neihu, 公館): (02) 8792-6668,
   Kaohsiung outlet (義大) : (07)656-8100, largest outlet in Taiwan.
   Gloria outlet : will be open expected end of 2014.
   林口中商36 (invested by Japanese 三井): open in 2017 expected.
   蘭城新月: largest one in Eastern taiwan.   
   Taichung outlet (日曜) : (04)3611-2366, The only outlet in middle Taiwan.

◎  Apple Daily News (May 6, 2012): headline  Outlet is 3 times popular than before.
◎  TVBS news CH55 (13:01pm, May 6, 2012): Taipei outlet 10% up, EeLan outlet 20% up.

  
   info. 2012
 

 

  Taipei Leeco outlet : (02) 8792-6668,
   Eelan city outlet (爾本): (03) 932-8800, UNIQLO, 無印良品will be here.
   Taichung outlet (日曜) : (04)3611-2366,
   Taichung outlet (月眉): (04) 2558-2459,
   Kaohsiung outlet (義大) : (07)656-8100, Includes YSL, Gucci, etc   

  
   info. 2011
 

 

(1)  There was a "out-let" store street in Tian-Mum :  Section 6, Chung San North Road (adjacent to Tian-Mum Circle).    Till now many out-let stores have already moved out because the house-rent rose in recent years, some stores remained the same place still offers economic price, i.e., about NT 700 for Ralph Lauran POLO long-sleeve shirt.    

(2)    A large out-let building Leeco (about 160 brands) located in Nae Hu. 

    Nautica : phone (02) 8792-6668

    Ralph Lauran POLO : 8791-3721, 2719-1838 (head-quarter),

    Levi's etc outlet : 8791-2449

    Timberland & DATA outlet : 2791-4393

     LEECO outlet (Roots, Boss, Samsonite, Rockport,  Givenchy, Swatch, CERRUTI, Escada, Max Mara, Moschino, etc) : 8791-3745

     a few other outlet stores are nearby.

(3)   EDA (義大) Outlet Mall (tel: 07-657-7077) in Kaohsiung city, includes about 300 brands, like Gucci, YSL, Ralph Lauren, etc

(4)   A XL-sized clothes store at 81, Sec. 2, JinShan South Road, which is adjacent to the Gas station, near Tamkang University, downtown campus, Taipei.

(5)   Some stores around no. 163, section 1, Dun Hua South Road,  near the Haagen Dazs Ice Cream Store.

(6)   A store namely <King Cheu Store>, located around lane 190, Section 1, Dun Hua S Rd.,  adjacent to Bossini, a block from Royal Host.   

(7)   In addition to Taipei, Taoyuan Tai-mall has a few out-let stores. 

(8)   Some stores in the lane ( cross point : 9, WenZou Street &  260, Section 1, HePing S. Road) not too far from National Taiwan Normal University.

(9)  Some other outlet with very economic prices, see The Liberty Times of Mar. 14, 2009, Apple Daily of Aug 10, 2008, or phone (07) 225-5208 etc.

 

 

 

   

    

 society security

      

Taipei Times, 2022-9-13 : The results of a survey released yesterday by the Foundation for the People showed  that 73.6 percent are dissatisfied with public safety in Taiwan, while 25.5 percent are satisfied. taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2022/09/13/2003785231

Yahoo Taiwan》, 2021-11-23:  all opposition parties blast the government not fulfilling its promise to patch the loophole of social security network.  tw.news.yahoo.com/在野齊轟-社會安全破網遲不補-222338789.html 

Next TV news 壹新聞》, 2021-11-23, 12:11: a very big loophole in our social security net.

Yahoo Taiwan》, 2021-11-22: A series of social security events in entire Taiwan occurred

       Police    (No.1 on google by English keyword "comment Taiwan police", 6-23-2016, No.1 ranking on google, yahoo by "comment Taiwan police" in Chinese at 1-1-2017, 6-23-2016 ) or backup file http://intlHumanRights.com/BadPolice.htm
    
 Judiciary      (No.1 ranking on Yahoo, top on google, 11-14-2016, but can't be open in some  random-selected governmental institutions - e.g.,  National Library ( test at 2-19-2016) , )  or backup file  http://intlHumanRights.com/TaiwanJudiciary.htm
   
    Prosecutors     (No.1 ranking on Google by English keyword "Taiwan prosecutors" at 6-23-2016.  but can't be open in some  random-selected governmental institutions - e.g.,  National Library ( test at 2-19-2016) ,)  backup file  http://intlHumanRights.com/ProsecutorsTaiwan.htm

          

   

 

 

                     

 

 

   

pic. left: Singapore's the Straits Times (head-page and main page) reported Zola Zu  organized world No.1 ranking cartoon contest to promote human rights and freedom of expression
pic. middle:   Zola Zu criticized Taiwan's judicial system and prosecutors via the United Daily News system
 (half-page) 20+ years ago, however, Taiwan has resisted changes till now.
pic. right:      Zola Zu criticized Taiwan's pollution problems via the United Daily News system
 (half-page) 20+ years ago, however, Taiwan has resisted changes till now.  / July 2016

 

pic:The monument (1999) at front of National Assembly (ZhongShan Hall, Taipei) to celebrate the triumph in the war of resistance against Japanese invasion and Retrocession of Taiwan.   In Aug. '15, textbook protest students want the phrase "(接收)take over Taiwan" instead of "(光復)Retrocession or recovery of Taiwan", in their deep mind, they are against one-China policy.   

 

hot pot - ShanXi instant boiled mutton
M.D.s advised Taiwanese favorite new-in spicy hot-pot may causes illness if having much; pic. above is tranditional Chinese ShanXi hot pot in Taiwan for instant boiled meat, was no longer popular.


I ate turtles and alligator-tail in Florida before, a widely saying in China & Taiwan eating soft-shell turtles is good for regimen, however, Taiwan just found turtles (甲魚/水魚) in a famous restaurant chain contain poisonous LMG, etc.  (CNA, 7-25-2015)
pic. above is a tourism site in S. TW.


Hong Kong's TimHoWan is a Michelin star restaurant, but Taiwan's branch restaurant is not. 

Original Shanghai flavor foods, was intro. by Wall Street Journal.
Chiang or
Jiang G.K. (蔣經國), Former president's favorite-food restaurant was no longer crowded.


After being remodeled, the Northern Gate no longer looks like a heritage-treasure.

 

Black-glass-front-door barber shops are no longer popular, only a few were survived till present - in there you find nostalgic flavor and more likely have 'entertainment' service by aged female, mostly.  Taiwan police turn a blind eye to so many erotic business fr. so many years.

 

 

 

 


 

                          
 

 

 

Pic. left: Ranking No.1 on google by English keyword "comment Taiwan restaurants" ,
Sept. 2, 2015, 9-30-2017.
Pic. right:
Ranking No.1 on Yahoo by Chinese keyword "comment Taiwan foods" or "comment Taiwan delicacies",

Sept. 2, 2015, 1-10-2017.

 

◆◆

 

 

 

pic: This websites-group was ranked No.1 by keyword "comment Taiwan"
on Google, 1-11-2018, 9-15-2017,  12-4-2016, 11-24-2016

 

pic: This websites-group was ranked No.1 by keyword
 "understand Taiwan" on Google, 1-11-2018, 9-15-2017,  1-6-2017

 

 

 

 

◆◆

 

 

 

 

 

pic: This websites-group was ranked No.1 by keyword  "understand Taiwan" on Bing, at 1-11-2018, 5-8-2017

 

pic: This websites-group was ranked No.1

by keyword "comment Taiwan"
on Bing, at 1-11-2018, 5-8-2017

 

 

 

International famous tourism & travel reports

  Taiwan usually is not included on top ranking list of world travel and tourism rpt.

 

 2015 Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Report

Taiwan's weakness : Taiwan's strength :
Index Taiwan's world rankings Index Taiwan's ranking
Country Brand Strategy No.125 taxi airport charges No.17
Prioritization of Travel & Tourism No.82 Internet Users No.24
Hotel price index No.82 access improving drinking water No.33
Tourist service infrastructure No.77 Mobil network coverage No.1
Environmental Sustainability No.69 quality of railroad No.7
Natural Resource No.62 Fuel price No.22
Purchasing power parity No.64 domestic transport network No.7
World heritage cultural sites the last position, n/a ps (China No.5) Business cost of violence No.11
World heritage natural sites the last position, n/a (China No.3) Taiwan has never been included in top 30 on <Travel and tourism competitiveness report> (2011~2015).
major car rental companies No.120
Travel and tourism industry development No.53

full rpt. pls. ref. to http://reports.weforum.org/travel-and-tourism-competitiveness-report-2015   TW overall index 32 in '15.

 


◆ 
Country Brands Index 2014/2015

Taiwan's score : Taiwan's score location - "Countries" (left lower place)
Taiwan locates in "Countries" category, a lowest area  ―   having below average perceptions in both the Status and Experience dimensions.

Critera :
tourism / Value for money, Range of attractions, Resort & lodging options, Would like to visit for a vacation, Food ;
HERITAGE & CULTURE / Historical points of interest, Heritage, art & culture, Natural beauty;
etc.


“Country brands” – Countries that have above average perceptions across both the Status and Experience dimensions and have measurable competitive advantages over their peers as a result.
“Experience countries” – Countries whose perception strength is biased towards dimensions relating to Heritage & Culture, Tourism and Made In.
“Status countries” – Countries whose perception strength is biased towards attributes relating to Value System, Quality Of Life and Business Potential.
http://www.futurebrand.com/news/futurebrand-launches-the-country-brand-index-2014-15
top 20 countries: Japan, Switzerland, Germany, Sweden, Canada, Norway, United States, Australia, Denmark, Austria, New Zealand, United Kingdom, Finland,Singapore, Iceland, Netherlands, France, Italy, United Arab Emirates, South Korea.

top 20 most influential cities:  NY, London, Beijing, Washington, Moscow, Tokyo, Paris, Berlin, Shanghai, Dubai,  HK, Singapore, New Delhi, SaoPaulo, Rio De Janeiro, LA, Rome, Toronto, Seoul, Mumbai.

 

 

  Economist Intelligence Unit -  Global Most Livable Cities , '15

       Taipei's livability score ranks No. 60 in 2015, No.61 in 2013  (Tokyo No.15 in '15, Australia Melbourne No.1)

        5 elements to decide the rankings - Infrastructure (25%, Housing, Roads, Basic Utilities ), Heath Care (20%), Culture & Environment(20%), stability (25% - crimes & terrorism), Education (10%).

 

    Mercer "Quality of Living" , 2015

          Taipei's score was ranked No. 83, Tai-chung city No.99.   The factors to decide include Economic environment, Political and social environment, Socio-cultural environment, Medical/health considerations, School and education level, Public services and transport, Recreation, Consumer goods, Housing, Natural environment.

 

    World's best places to retire in 2015, see  http://internationalliving.com/2015/01/the-best-places-to-retire-2015/   , which includes Asian countries like Malaysia, New Zealand, Thai, Phil, Vietnam, but Taiwan is not included in there.
 

  MasterCard Global Destination Cities Index, '15

        the MasterCard Global Destination Cities Index reports the following cities as the top ten most popular destinations of tourism worldwide in 2015

       1.London (18.82million tourists arrivals), 2.Bankok(18.24), 3.Paris, 4.Dubai(14.26), 5.Istanbul(12.56), 6.New York City, 7.Singapore(11.88),8. Kuala Lumpur(11.12), 9.Seoul(10.35), 10. Hong Kong (8.66 million).  Taipei Times, 6-6-2015:  Taipei (6.55 million), an increase of 2.5 percent from 6.38 million last year (2014).
 

2011-2012 rank /  Country Brand Index

index/category

2011-2012  Rank  

Asia's best 1. NZ, 2 Jap, 3 Aus, 4 Sing, 5 Maldives, 6 Thai, 7 India, 8 Korea, 9 Mal, 10 Fiji, 11 Vietnam, 12 Nepal, 13 chn, 14 Indonesia, 15 Phi, 16 Laos, 17 Cambodia, 18 Bangladesh, 19 Iran, 20 Pakistan
Resort & lodging options 1 Maldives, 2 Mauritius, 3 Japan, 4 Swiss, 5 US, 6 UAE, 7 Spain, 8 Bermuda, 9 st Lucia, 10 Thai, 12 NZ, 13, Fiji
Food 1 Italy, 2France, 3 Japan, 4Spain, 5 Singapore, 6 Thailand, 7 India, 8 Brasil, 9 Malaysia, 10 Swiss, 11 Germany, 12 Vietnam, 13 Greece, 14 Australia, 15 USA
Shopping 1 US, 2 France, 3 Italy, 4 UK, 5 Japan, 6 China, 7 singapore, 8 UAE, 9 thai, 10 Germany
Attraction 1 Japan, 2 Italy, 3 France, 4 US, 5 Israel, 6 UK, 8 Egypt, 9 Spain, 10 Swiss, 11 Aus, 12 Peru, 13 India, 14 Austria, 15 S Africa
Value for Money 1 Thai, 2 US, 3 Malaysia, 4 Argen, 5 India, 6 Laos, 7 Indonesia, 8 Cam, 9 Vietnam, 10 Turkey, 11 Aus, 12 NZ, 13 Spain
Night Life 1 US, 2 UK, 3 Brasil, 4 Spain, 5 France, 6 Italy, 7 Aus, 8 Thai, 9 Argentina, 10 Germany, 11, Japan, 12 Holland, 13 Singapore, 14 Greece, 15 China
Beaches 1 Aus, 2 Brasil, 3 US, 4 Maldives, 5 Bahamas, 6 Thailand, 7 Greece, 8 Spain


In 2008 Top Country Brand Index Ranking ,Japan(日本) is the only top 10 Asian country, China is the rising star in the next 5 years.

Index

2007-2008 rankings:  ( underscore for Eastern nations)

"Arts & Culture"

France, Egypt, India, UK, Greece, Red China, Russia, Japan, Spain.
"Fine dining"  Italia, Singapore, Japan, US, UK, UAE, Malaysia, Spain, Argentina .
"Friendly locals"  Canada, New Zealand, Ireland, Thailand, Sweden, Fiji, Turkey, Arab, Austria
"Best shopping"  UAE, Singapore, Italia, Japan, France, UK, Canada, Thai, S Korea
"authenticity"  Red China, S Africa, Japan, Thai, Egypt, India, Peru, Morocco
"Ideal for business"  Red China ranks No.1,  Singapore and Japan rank top 10. 


     According to 2009 ECA int'l "the Best Place to Reside", Taipei ranks No.57,  Asia top 3 are Singapore, HK, Tokyo( both world No.15).  2010's rank :  Taipei No.55, Singapore is still global No. 1.

 

 


 

 The Star Online, 2-20-2020: US travel advisory warns of Taiwan
 "apparent community spread" ...
"
community spread": people infected with the CoronaVirus ...
are not sure how and where they became infected

 

 

 

 

 

                      Taiwan tourism & travel, reviews  
台湾の観光&旅行
 
                 
  this site's world No.1 in  2020~24, 2017~19, 2016, 2015, 2014,  2013, 2010~12