2008 Visit Kaohsiung Year Kicks Off! / 2008高雄觀光年啟動
2008 Visit Kaohsiung Year Kicks Off!
◎Text by Fu-Ju Lin.jpg)
◎Courtesy of Economic Affairs Bureau
In January, Mayor Chen announced the launch of "2008 Visit Kaohsiung Year" at Love Pier. Kaohsiung Tourism Associations have been established by relevant industries. From May 5-10, Mayor Chen, along with a delegation, visited Japan to boost tourism. From June to September, the promotion delegation will visit Hong Kong, South Korea, and Singapore with similar goals.
Mayor Chen said that despite Kaohsiung City being blessed with extraordinary tourism resources such as mountains, ocean, rivers and harbors; less than one million tourists among the 3.7 million who come to Taiwan annually visit Kaohsiung. There is still a lot of room to expand Kaohsiung's tourism industry. With the objective of "Fall for the New Kaohsiung", the "2008 Visit Kaohsiung Year" campaign is expected to help increase domestic and international visitors to the city by one million.
On May 5th, Mayor Chen led a delegation of 120 representatives from the tourism industry to Japan for a six-day visit, during which they gave presentations in Osaka, Nagoya, and Tokyo. The group visited Osaka Tourism Fair on May 7th and held a presentation on May 8th. On May 9th, the delegation arrived in Tokyo and hosted an event co-sponsored by the Tokyo Office of Tourism Bureau, Ministry of Transportation and Communications. Eighty guests from around Japan were invited for an experience exchange.
Mayor Chen urged Japanese tour groups to consider the "Kaohsiung Winter Fun" travel program which will be active from this November to next March. The program will target Japanese and Korean tour groups staying in Kaohsiung. Each visitor will receive a "Kaohsiung MRT Fun Pass" from the city government. In order to promote the 2009 World Games in Kaohsiung, the government will randomly select ten lucky winners for a complimentary trip to Kaohsiung and access to the World Games events in July, 2009. Each prize will include a NT$100,000 gift certificate package.
Mayor Chen said that there are many recommended theme travel programs supported by airlines and travel agencies. These programs include "Ride Kaohsiung MRT and Appreciate Public Artworks", "The World Games Stadium Tour", "Medical Cosmetics Boot Camp", "Wedding Photos in Kaohsiung" and "Golf Getaway", which are designed to attract more visitors from abroad.
Mayor Chen also mentioned that with the initiatives taken in Japan, many Japanese revealed interest in visiting Kaohsiung and southern Taiwan. The number of international tourists is expected to increase 100,000 this year. Authorities hope that with the boost of the World Games, the number of Japanese tourists can increase from last year's 190,000 to more than 380,000 in 2009.
2008 is a year of all-out tourism promotion. On June 10-11, the promotion delegation attended travel fairs in Hong Kong to promote Kaohsiung. On June 19-21, the group attended Beijing International Travel Fair. On June 22-24, they went to Shanghai and strive to attract tourists from China to visit Kaohsiung. The subsequent destinations include South Korea in August and Singapore in September. They will participate in local travel fairs to introduce Kaohsiung to more tourists.
2008高雄觀光年啟動
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◎文／林秀麗
◎圖片提供／高雄市政府建設局
陳菊市長於元月在真愛碼頭宣布「2008高雄觀光年」啟動！相關產業同時成立「高雄觀光聯盟」推展本市觀光。5月5日至10日陳菊市長率團赴日，推薦緊接著，6月至9月期間，行銷團隊將前往香港、韓國、新加坡推展本市觀光。
陳市長表示，高雄市擁有山、海、河、港等優越的觀光資源，但每年來台370多萬人次的觀光客中，來到高雄一遊者卻不到百萬，高雄的觀光產業商機還有很大的拓展空間。「2008高雄觀光年」以「愛戀、新高雄」為主軸，預估將增加100萬人次的國內外遊客到高雄一遊。
陳市長率高雄市觀光旅遊業界代表達120人，5月5日出發前往日本展開6天行銷行程，前往大阪、名古屋及東京舉辦觀光行銷說明會。一行人於５月７日參加大阪旅遊博覽會，８日轉戰名古屋舉辦高雄觀光說明會，９日抵達東京由交通部觀光局東京辦事處協助，邀請80位日本人士參加高雄觀光行銷說明會，促進雙方交流。
陳市長向日本旅行團大力推薦，今年11月到明年３月期間推出『「冬」遊高雄』，旅遊方案，針對住宿高雄飯店的日本及韓國旅行團，市政府將贈送每位旅客一張捷運玩樂卡，並行銷宣傳2009高雄世運活動，只要上述期間到高雄旅遊的日本、韓國觀光客，將抽出10位幸運者，由市府招待2009年７月高雄世運之旅來高雄參觀世運，包含贈送每位旅客價值新台幣10萬元的禮券。
陳市長表示，結合航空公司、旅行社，一起推薦「捷運公共藝術之旅」、 「世運主場館之旅」、「醫療美容觀光」、「拍攝婚紗觀光」、「高爾夫之旅」等高雄主題旅遊行程，希望讓更多的國際友人前往本市旅遊。
透過主動出擊赴日行銷觀光，陳市長表示，不少日本人反映「將來計畫到南台灣高雄一遊」，今年高雄市可望增加10萬名外國旅客，到2009世運年，期望日本旅客人數從去年的19萬人增至明年超過38萬人。
2008年全力發展觀光，陳市長及行銷團隊將於６月10日、11日赴香港參加旅展行銷高雄，接著６月19日至21日將前往中國大陸北京國際旅展，22日至24日轉往上海，爭取大陸觀光客登台到高雄旅遊；８月預定率團前往韓國、９月赴新加坡，參加當地旅展活動行銷高雄，吸引更多旅客至本市旅遊。