Taipei City woos Hong Kong tourists

With more than 400,000 Hong Kong tourists visiting Taipei every year, the Taipei City Department of Information and Tourism is offering budget tour packages aimed at tourists from the Chinese territory that include coupons from 88 shops, in a bid to attract more tourists and generate more than NT$210 million (US$7 million) in revenue.

The department will work with China Airlines to offer Hong Kong tourists budget tour packages for as low as NT$9,000. The packages would include a round-trip ticket to Taipei, a two-night stay at a local hotel and a “welcome gift set” prepared by the department.

Commissioner Chao Hsin-ping (趙心屏) said the department prepared 11,000 gift sets for Hong Kong tourists that contained vouchers from 12 stores, including Eslite Bookstore and the Taipei 101 Mall’s observatory deck, coupons for up to 30 percent off from 88 local restaurants and stores, and a one-day EasyCard pass.

“Taipei City is a popular destination for people from Hong Kong, especially individual tourists and backpackers. We expect the promotional program to attract more Hong Kong tourists to visit Taipei, thereby boosting tourism in our city,” she said yesterday at a press conference in the W Hotel.

Kitty Chan, a 28-year-old Hong Kong travel writer invited by the department to share her travel experience in Taipei, lauded the cultural venues and design shops around the city, and said she would promote designer shops on Zhongshan N Road and in the eastern shopping area of the city, as well as street food at the Shihda night market.

“I have come to Taiwan more than 10 times, and Taipei City has always been my first stop. Taipei is blessed with great culture and historic sites, and is a city with innovation. Those are hard to find in Hong Kong,” she said.