Chart 4.2 International Tourist Arrivals and Tourism Revenue of Taiwan from
4.4.4 Evaluation from Tourist Aspects
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resources covering National Scenic Areas, National Parks, National Forest Recreation Areas, Recreation Farms, Hot Spots, Factory Tour, and Tourism Town. However, from the tourist aspect, those information could be even more attractive by providing suggested tourism tour as Japanese tourism authority did on their promotion strategies to connect those natural attractions for those who travel Taiwan for their first time.
On the other hand, on the promotion of festival and taste of Taiwan, Taiwan Tourism Bureau could provide not only the introduction on the festival and food, but also the picture collection of the activity and more user-friendly information on multiple languages because some of the links on the official web page was invalid or without English explanation. Finally, in terms of the Special Interest, this thesis suggests that it is quite attractive on offering different categories to cater different purpose and interest for international tourists, however those information would be even more attractive and friendly to tourists through the customer-oriented package tour provided. Therefore, this thesis suggests that on the web page of Special Interest, through the combination of a series of video clips from tourist information and their experience sharing from on those tours, which could provide those tourists with more direct and eye-catching suggestion on those special interest.
4.4.4 Evaluation from Tourist Aspects
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In order to have a more comprehensive evaluation on the effect of Taiwan brand, this thesis also conducts 12 interviews with the international tourists through
convenient sampling, including four people from East Asia, four from Europe and two from America. Considering the time and budget limitation, the interview only covers the tourist spots in Taipei Area, the information is as Table 4.8 below:
Table 4.8 Information of International Tourist Interviewees
Area Nationality Interview Place
East Asia China National Palace Museum
East Asia Japan Shilin Night Market
East Asia South Korea Yaming Mountain
East Asia Hong Kong North Coast
East Asia Indonesia Beitou
Europe the U.K. Pingxi
Europe Austria Jiufen
Europe the Netherlands Elephant Mountain
Europe Belgium Taipei 101
America the U.S.A. Longshan Temple
America Saint Lucia Taipei Zoo
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America Mexico Wulai Aboriginal Museum
The interview conducted 4 basic questions, such as 1)"Before your trip to Taiwan what's your association with Taiwan tourism?" 2)"After you travel in Taiwan, what's your impression on Taiwan tourism?" 3)"What's the pros and cons of Taiwan
tourism?" And finally, 4)"In what way, you think Taiwan tourism could be better improved?" From their response, this thesis found that there are several important responses which echo the research direction of this thesis:
On the first question, " Before your trip to Taiwan what's your association with Taiwan tourism?" "Because Taiwan is one of the most popular traveling countries for Japanese tourists, so I associate Taiwan tourism with unique Chinese culture with friendly people and popular night life, such as night markets. (interviewee from Japan, 20150713)
Another interviewee from Europe said "Before I came, I did not know anything about Taiwan. I only heard from my friend who has been to Taiwan before that Taiwan is quite a beautiful place with great natural sceneries and low living expenses." (interviewee from the Netherlands, 20150714)
Finally, interviewee from America responded "It's my first time travel to Asia, and I attend the summer class. Before I came, I only heard of some tourist spot of Taiwan, such as Taipei 101, and National Palace Museum. Owing to I am interested in
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culture, I am really excited in visiting the National Palace Museum, and experience the traditional and modern culture in this country." (interviewee from the U.S.A., 20150715)
Therefore, it's seems from the association of Taiwan, Asian country tourist may have higher connection with Taiwan tourism because of the distance and the culture attraction. For tourist from Europe and America, it seems they do not have strong association with Taiwan tourism and the connection may be built on the
recommendation of friends.
The second question, the interview addresses on how do they perceive Taiwan Tourism when they travel, " After you travel in Taiwan, what's your impression on Taiwan tourism?" Interviewee from China answered "I think Taiwan contains plenty of valuable culture assets, especially the cultural heritage in National Palace
Museum." (interviewee from China, 20150713)
Interviewee from England responses that "After traveling in Taiwan, the beauty from natural resource really amazes me! In Taiwan, there are mountain areas,
National Park, and several train station with stories and unique features. I really enjoy it!" (interviewee from the U.K., 20150714)
Interviewee form Saint Lucia replied "Festival is Taiwan is really amazing! Like my home country, culture and festival is the most popular elements for tourism, and I
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really enjoy the atmosphere in Taiwan, such as Chinese New Year and Sky Lantern Festival, which provides a warm and peaceful atmosphere." (interviewee from Saint Lucia, 20150713)
From the response of above interviewees, culture and festival are attracting elements for tourists. Tourists from different areas appreciate the natural and traditional culture and festivals from Taiwan brand, which as the discussion in the previous session in this chapter are two strong features of Taiwan Tourism.
In the third question, "What's the pros and cons of Taiwan tourism?", which addresses the advantage and disadvantage of Taiwan tourism on the construction of brand effect. Interviewee from South Korea, "What attracts me to travel Taiwan is because of the food and cuisine culture in Taiwan, which is very different from Korea.
However, I saw the previous news media on reporting the food security issue of Taiwan, which makes me a bit nervous on the food in night market and local stands."
(interviewee from South Korea, 20150714)
On the other hand, interviewee from Belgium answered "The advantage of Taiwan tourism is having plenty of resource. A small island like Taiwan, but it contains high mountain views, tropical and subtropical animals and lives as well as great Chinese culture and history. However, before I came to Taiwan I did not know Taiwan have these wonders, Taiwan government should make stronger promotion on
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this side." (interviewee from Belgium, 20150716)
Still interviewee from USA responded "I am a big fan of culture. Therefore county with unique Chinese culture in Taiwan attracts me a lot, which I think it's the true strong advantage of Taiwan in tourism development. However, when I want to travel to other counties except Taipei, I found the information and accessibility for transportation is not really clear and convenient for first time arrivals, which should be improved in the near future." (interviewee from the U.S.A., 20150715)
Therefore, from the response of the interviewees, the pros and cons of Taiwan are quite different toward tourists from different areas. However, culture such as history and food cuisine are influential trigger for tourists. On the other hand, food security, promotion and domestic transportation between countries are the
disadvantages that need Taiwan government to improve immediately.
Finally toward the final question in the interview, " In what way, you think Taiwan tourism could be better improved?" Interviewee from Hong Kong responded
"Media plays an important role in promoting the message of tourism . As Hong Kong also has suffered from SARS disease, which decreases the tourist arrivals. Therefore, I think for Taiwan should also make good use of social media to eliminate the bad impression from the tourists on the food security issue." (interviewee from Hong Kong, 20150715)
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Another interviewee from Indonesia replied "When I was in Indonesia, the promotion and advertisement of Taiwan tourism is focusing popular singer or drama actor as the tourism ambassadors. However, I thinks those popular entertainers really an attraction for those fans. However, it's not very effective for those who never watch it before. Therefore, effective promotion through practical strategies on features of Taiwan tourism might work better." (interviewee from Indonesia, 20150715)
Finally, one interviewee from Mexico responses "For solution to improve Taiwan tourism, I think Taiwan government should point out what makes Taiwan really different from others, such as Indian culture is one feature of my hometown, I think Taiwan should also polish and introduce its aboriginal tribe culture, which is really unique and special of Asian culture." (interviewee from Mexico, 20150715)
On the improvement of Taiwan tourism, the interview results show that
promotion is the part that Taiwan Tourism Bureau still needs to strengthen, especially on the promotion of positive tourism image and also the introduction of Taiwanese culture and tourism features. Finally, how and what feature should Taiwan point out to make stronger promotion of its strength, from the answer of interviewees, except food cuisine and traditional culture, aboriginal culture with unique feature is another strong element of Taiwan tourism.
To sum up, to answer the last research question, " How does Taiwan use the
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tourism industry to brand Taiwan brand?" chapter 4 explores policy, tourism resource and promotion strategy and the interview from the officials from Taiwan Tourism Bureau, and finds that on the policy aspect, Taiwan Tourism Bureau has specific annual objectives and goals to reach, which provides basic direction for development of tourism on resource integration and promotion strategy to follow. On the part of tourism resource and promotion, by comparison with other Asian countries, this thesis found that Taiwan did not lack of tourism resource, Taiwan did have great amount of natural and historical resources which help better development for tourism industry.
However, from the comparison and the feedback from the interviewees of the tourists, Taiwan should strengthen several aspects of it: First on the improvement of
transportation and information of the tourism in county besides the capital. Second, Taiwan Tourism Bureau should enhance the influence of social media on supporting the promotion of it to promote the positive side of Taiwan Brand. Finally, as the previous chapter has discussed the unique feature of Taiwan are culture and festival, how to promote the unique feature of it in a much more efficient way of promotion is key to foster the development of Taiwan Brand.
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Chapter 5 Conclusion
On considering answering the three research questions from the first chapter: 1) What are the key factors influencing the national brand? 2) How does regional countries adopt tourism to build their national brand? How does countries in East Asian adopt tourism to build their national brand?3) How does Taiwan use the tourism industry to brand Taiwan brand? the main objective of this thesis explores how does Taiwan build its national brand through the development of tourism industry, including tourism policies, tourism resources, tourism marketing strategies, and tourism promotion campaign. In chapter two, this thesis explores the first two
questions from the construction of nation branding in terms of its reasons, factors, and strategies from the preliminary studies, which reveals that time, audience association and tourism from the national branding Hexagon. From the factor tourism, the literature review also explores that policy, resources, and marketing strategies are the three influencing factors on it.
In chapter three, in order to have a more comprehensive understanding on the second question, this thesis focuses on the nation branding in development of East Asian countries, especially those countries with close relations with Taiwan including China, Japan, Hong Kong, and Korea. Although different countries and areas have different strategies to increase attractiveness, they also have a common feature that is
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they all point out their unique features in culture and eliminate the negative part. In chapter four, this thesis explores the answer to the last question, construction of Taiwan brand through the development of its tourism industry and the in-depth interview with the government officers from the Taiwan Tourism Bureau. In the conclusion chapter, this thesis would base on the findings and comparison in the previous chapters to have a conclusion and suggestion for the future tourism policies and development.
5.1 Conclusion
In terms of conclusion, in the following paragraph, this thesis would divided into several aspects based on the tourism policy, tourism resources, tourism marketing strategies from the discussion in previous chapters.