Taiwan’s “Waves of Wonder” campaign is set to rebrand the island as a year-round destination, focusing on diverse experiences and new markets to reignite international tourism after the pandemic.
As a tourist destination, Taiwan has plenty of variety: a vibrant urban city culture, mountainous areas for nature lovers, and vast stretches of coastline for those seeking water thrills or a beach to chill. Yet Taiwan’s Tourism Administration has ground to cover in promoting a wide range of lifestyle experiences and budget-friendly travel options. This vast scope also presents a massive challenge – to which market, country, age, and financial level should tourism initiatives focus?
Taiwan’s “Waves of Wonder” tourism campaign, launched earlier this year, is designed to rebrand and boost international tourism, marking the first major rebranding since its “Heart of Asia” campaign was introduced in 2011. The new brand encourages year-round travel by zeroing in on seasonal highlights such as Taiwan’s mountains, oceans, and scenic routes, symbolized by the wave-like designs in the new logo.
This shift aligns with a trend toward purposeful travel, which means “promoting not just destinations but deeper cultural and natural exploration, focusing on improving global connectivity,” says Chou Yung-hui, director general of the Tourism Administration, under the Ministry of Transportation and Communications. “The Waves of Wonder campaign aims to position Taiwan as a must-visit destination for international tourists.”
The rebrand comes as good news for industry. In its 2024 White Paper, AmCham’s Travel & Tourism Committee encouraged the government to redefine Taiwan’s tourism mission, vision, and supporting marketing messages to resonate with modern tourism and drive success. With Waves of Wonder as a promising start, the committee urged further efforts to enhance audience engagement.
The question becomes how to get people to part with their hard-earned money for a roundtrip ticket to Taiwan. According to the Tourism Administration, the new initiative enhances Taiwan’s visibility through partnerships with airlines, promotional events, and cultural exchanges.
“Based on our recent observations of international tourism market trends and global traveler dynamics, Southeast Asian countries generally have a young population structure, strong economic growth, and a gradually increasing demand for international travel,” says Chou.
AmCham members identified Singapore as a model for regional best practices in accessing key feeder markets. Singapore’s world-class Changi Airport and brand campaign “Singapore: Passion Made Possible” have been widely successful in positioning the city-state as a hub for business, leisure, and culture. Its digital ecosystems also make accessing services and information on its diverse range of attractions a breeze.
Since launching the New Southbound Policy in 2016, Taiwan has continuously strengthened cooperation with Southeast Asian countries, including promoting visa facilitation measures to inspire travel based on clearly defined approaches. In light of this development, the Tourism Administration is expanding additional tourism marketing efforts in the region.
“In up-and-coming markets such as India and Indonesia, we established Taiwan Tourism Information Centers (TTICs) in Mumbai and Jakarta in February 2024,” says Chou. “We aim to provide nearby travel information through these centers and work alongside our overseas offices to promote and reach more potential visitors.”
Setting up a center in the Philippines, which is geographically close and has a population exceeding 100 million, also presents exciting opportunities for boosting regional visitor flow. With the Philippines’ economy growing and edging ever closer to being declared an upper middle-income country (likely before 2026) by the World Bank, this is a savvy move.
Halal options
The Tourism Administration is actively advancing its Muslim Tourism Growth Plan, focusing on majority-Muslim countries like Malaysia and Indonesia as key markets to attract more visitors.
“We aim to accurately understand the travel needs and characteristics of Muslim travelers and enhance the Muslim-friendly environment through measures such as improving services, adding support facilities, and strengthening international promotion, thereby deepening our engagement with the Muslim market and promoting travel to Taiwan,” says Chou.
Even before Covid, Taiwan steadily promoted its Halal restaurants and upgraded Muslim prayer facilities. “We uphold strategies of global diversification and development,” Chou says. “In addition to steadily operating in established mature markets, we are actively exploring emerging potential source markets.”
The increased focus on Muslim tourism could also boost Middle Eastern arrival numbers. According to the Tourism Administration, the number of pre-pandemic tourists from the Middle East to Taiwan was about 200,000, while in 2023 it dropped to approximately 15,000. Although the Middle East is not a major market for Taiwan due to distance and flight availability, it holds significant potential for future development.
The administration’s marketing strategy in the Middle East focuses on enhancing Taiwan’s tourism visibility and recognition. Along with participating in major local travel exhibitions, plans are afoot to establish a TTIC in Dubai by 2026.
New plans for old friends
The more developed travel market of North America is being addressed, too. The Tourism Administration promotes themed travel products according to each region’s travel characteristics by employing five marketing strategies: participating in overseas travel fairs, organizing road shows and promotional events, utilizing digital media advertising, implementing out-of-home advertising (such as billboards and buses), and engaging Key Opinion Leaders (KOLs) for social media marketing.
The United States was one of the countries that lifted pandemic restrictions early, and the resumption of flights to Taiwan has been relatively strong. Before the pandemic, the number of annual visitor arrivals from the United States to Taiwan was about 600,000. In 2023, this figure reached almost 530,000, rebounding to 88% of pre-pandemic levels and making the United States the fourth-largest source market for tourism to Taiwan globally.
The Tourism Administration participates in Business-to-Consumer (B2C) and Business-to-Business (B2B) travel exhibitions and holds promotional events to directly interact with target audiences in North America. By collaborating with well-known media travel channels in the mainstream market, the administration combines film and television marketing to highlight Taiwan’s tourism features. It is also bullish on outdoor advertising at transportation hubs and major landmarks.
“We have integrated the new tourism brand with advertisements displayed on New York double-decker buses and in Times Square as of September 2024,” says Chou.
Additionally, the Tourism Administration is targeting the North American market with multi-stop itineraries that include major Asian destinations. It is offering free half-day tours for transit tourists from the United States, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand, expanding the transit market and boosting inbound tourism.
India’s impact
One of the most significant changes in global tourism over the past few years has been the rapid increase in Indian travelers. Overseas spending by Indian travelers tripled between 2010 and 2023 to US$33 billion annually, making Indians the world’s largest and fastest-growing travel market.
It’s worth noting that many Western countries frequently give Indians the impression that they are unwelcome. In the United States, wait times for tourist-visa interviews can exceed one year. The UK imposes steep visa fees, and obtaining a visa for Europe’s Schengen zone – if an appointment is even obtainable – requires significant paperwork, proof of financial stability, and guarantees of return.
Indians wanting to visit Taiwan face similar constraints. Those wanting to come on a tourist visa must provide – among other paperwork and visa fees – a cover letter mentioning the purpose of their visit, the designation of the visitor, and the intended duration of their stay. Furthermore, prepared documents must include a tentative travel itinerary, confirmed hotel bookings in Taiwan, and personal bank statements for the last three months.
Oxford Economics predicts that Indian overseas spending will jump to US$45 billion in the near future. Indians’ most preferred destinations in Southeast Asia are currently Thailand and Malaysia. Both countries have suspended visa requirements for Indians, which has proved wildly successful, spurring an even greater volume of visitors. In 2023, Vietnam introduced a 90-day multiple-entry e-visa policy for Indian citizens, which simplified the visa process and lead to an increase of more than 200,000 arrivals from 2022.
Taiwan’s bilateral relationship with India is flourishing, driven by rising industrial and talent exchanges and supply chain shifts influenced by geopolitical factors. As the world’s most populous country, India is becoming a key focus for Taiwan. In 2022, Indian outbound travel rebounded to 21 million, about 78% of the nearly 27 million recorded in 2019, indicating strong recovery. This makes India a prime target market for neighboring countries aiming to attract more tourists.
To deepen Taiwan’s engagement, the Tourism Administration organizes annual delegations to participate in major travel exhibitions in India, such as Outbound Travel Mart and ITB India, and conducts various tourism promotional events. Initially, the delegations will target and develop the incentive travel market in major cities like Mumbai and New Delhi, actively contacting local MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences, and exhibitions) operators and corporate groups to attract high-quality incentive travel groups to Taiwan.
To lay the foundation for future development in the Indian market, Taiwan established its first TTIC in India in populous and wealthy Mumbai in February 2024. A local PR company was hired to assist in welcoming Indian tourism, aviation, and media representatives to visit Taiwan and familiarize themselves with what Taiwan has to offer.
In the long term, the Tourism Administration aims to focus on family travel and the general public, gradually establishing a strong foothold and diversifying the source markets for Taiwan’s tourism industry. It also intends to send tourism newsletters, manage social media, and organize visit activities. Conducting educational training and exchange seminars with relevant tourism industries will help to further enhance opportunities for interaction between Taiwan and India.
Down the road, the Mumbai-based TTIC will be upgraded to a formal foreign office by the end of 2025. The space will serve as an official service location, assigning permanent staff and increasing the marketing budget for the office to promote a significant increase in Indian tourists to Taiwan.
Producing tourism campaigns and investing in overseas information centers undoubtedly have their place in wooing tourists to Taiwan. Still, it’s imperative for Taiwan to also make it as smooth as possible for visitors to enter the country. A simple visa-on-arrival scheme would benefit all parties. While inter-government negotiations to secure visa types and the necessary reciprocal agreements doubtless require complex negotiations, it’s the seed from which a great deal of tourism growth can occur.
