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"2024 15th Taiwan-Japan Tourism Summit Forum" in Kaohsiung: Kaohsiung's Tourism Charm Amazes Japan
Post date:2024-06-06
Update:2024-07-05
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105
The 2024 "15th Taiwan-Japan Tourism Summit Forum" was held in Kaohsiung on May 30. This tourism summit forum was the first to be held in Taiwan after the full opening of borders between Taiwan and Japan, holding significant meaning and results for Kaohsiung's marketing and promotion of tourism to the Japanese travel market. The four-day, three-night forum included an international summit conference, thematic discussions, and a rich itinerary, attracting over 200 representatives from the tourism sectors, industries, and governments of both Taiwan and Japan to gather in the port city. Tourism Bureau Director Kao Min-Lin stated that the main visual design of this forum was inspired by Kaohsiung's image as the "Ocean Capital" with its harbor city scenery and architectural landmarks, integrating Taiwan's Bopomofo phonetic symbols with Japanese hiragana and katakana in the design. In addition to aligning with the forum's main themes of "Sustainable Development" and "Smart Tourism," the event was carefully planned around three main themes: "Great Kaohsiung, World Champion," "Colorful Kaohsiung, Ethnic Cultures," and "Trendy Kaohsiung, Inheriting Innovation." This included arranging visits, performance groups, exhibition booths, special lunch and dinner menus featuring Kaohsiung ingredients, and VIP souvenirs. After the announcement of the "Kaohsiung Declaration" at the summit forum on the 31st, Japanese VIPs were arranged to visit Kaohsiung's tourist attractions, experience diverse transportation, and taste characteristic cuisines. Yeh Chu-Lan, President of the Taiwan Visitors Association, which co-hosted this Taiwan-Japan forum, highly praised it, saying, "Kaohsiung has hosted the best Taiwan-Japan Tourism Summit Forum to date." In recent years, Kaohsiung has accelerated its urban transformation and advanced towards the 2050 net-zero carbon emissions goal. In addition to establishing comprehensive public transportation such as the metro and light rail, the Tourism Bureau has also strongly supported the tourism industry in improving service quality, promoting eco-friendly accommodations, green-friendly restaurants, and connecting with local culture. The "Taiwan-Japan Tourism Summit Forum" is the largest event for tourism exchange between Taiwan and Japan. The Tourism Bureau not only echoed the core value of "sustainable tourism" for this forum but also showcased Kaohsiung's diverse aspects as the city with the "highest tourism satisfaction in the country." This allowed large Japanese travel and tourism operators to get to know the new Kaohsiung, marketing Kaohsiung's unique charm and international tourism, and attracting more Japanese visitors.
The director stated that after successfully bidding to host the 15th Taiwan-Japan Tourism Summit Forum in Kaohsiung during last year's visit to Japan, to present the beauty of Kaohsiung as the "Ocean Capital," the forum's main visual specially used sea blue color and the image of the 85 Sky Tower to symbolize the harbor city of Kaohsiung. Orange was used to symbolize Japan, integrating elements such as Taiwan's Bopomofo, Japanese hiragana and katakana, and Tokyo Tower in the design, presenting the image of rich exchange and cooperation between Taiwan and Japan. The itinerary arranged for visitors to ride a specially themed light rail train combining Kaohsiung Bear and the main visual, as well as cultural yachts and ferries, to understand Kaohsiung's cultural history, urban transformation, and the beautiful scenery of Love River Bay. Visits to famous attractions such as the Totoro Tunnel, Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts, Hamasing New Pier Station, Warehouse No. 2, Kaohsiung Port Cruise Terminal, i-Ride 5D Flying Theater experience, Zhen Fang Mullet Roe Factory, and Cihou Lighthouse amazed the VIPs and operators. The three days of lunch and dinner were presented under the three main themes of "Great Kaohsiung, World Champion," "Colorful Kaohsiung, Ethnic Cultures," and "Trendy Kaohsiung, Inheriting Innovation." All menus were specially crafted using Kaohsiung ingredients, and local characteristic art performances and sharing by Kaohsiung champion artisans were arranged. These included the "Nibun Chorus," which won the gold medal at the 12th World Choir Games in South Korea, the "Ten Drum Art Percussion Group," which was nominated for a Grammy Award in the United States, the "Zhenzong Art Troupe - Female Eight Generals" symbolizing gender equality, the "2024 Kaohsiung Neimen Song Jiang Battle Array Champion Team," "Tianhong Garden Puppet Theater," and the "Neo-Classical Chamber Ensemble" performing Taiwanese folk songs and Hakka songs. There were also performances by the "Zuyun Cultural Music and Dance Troupe" and the "Coming True Fire Group," which left deep impressions on Japanese guests. Champion artisans invited included internationally renowned bread master "Master Wu Pao-chun," Chen Chun-chi of "Hong Shing Winery" who won double gold championships at the Brussels World Spirits Competition, Mars Huang of "Caffe Artigiano" who won three championships at the Australian International Coffee Roasting Competition, Wang Peng-chieh of "Shakespeare Bakery" who won the Coupe Louise Lesaffre, Liugui Xinfa Community's native mountain tea which received three stars in the "Food Industry Michelin" ITQI evaluation in Belgium, "Little Sweetheart Handmade Jam" which won gold at the 2023 "Dalemain World Marmalade Awards & Festival Japan Tournament," and Kaohsiung's signature agricultural and fishery products from local farmers. These showcased Kaohsiung's world champions and best specialties, presenting Kaohsiung's diverse aspects in hopes that Japanese guests would love Kaohsiung and choose to visit only Kaohsiung when traveling to Taiwan.
The director mentioned that representatives from both Taiwan and Japan jointly announced the "Kaohsiung Declaration" at this forum, continuing to develop "sustainable tourism" as a vision for the future. As flights between Taiwan and Japan gradually resume, they will actively promote healthy and balanced exchanges between Taiwan and Japan, working towards the goal of 7 million mutual visits between the two sides. Japanese VIPs included representatives from the Japan Tourism Agency of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association, Japan National Tourism Organization, Japan Travel and Tourism Association, Japan Association of Travel Agents, airlines, and railway operators, as well as tourism agencies and industry representatives from various prefectures and cities including Shizuoka, Mie, Kagawa, Ehime, Kochi, Toyama, Aichi, Tottori, Oita, Kumamoto, Miyazaki, and Okinawa. Taiwanese participants came from tourism agencies in Taipei City, New Taipei City, Taichung City, Tainan City, Chiayi City, Chiayi County, Pingtung County, Yilan County, Taoyuan City, Hsinchu City, Nantou County, representatives from various domestic tourism industries, and units such as the Taiwan-Japan Relations Association. In total, over 200 representatives from the tourism industries of Taiwan and Japan gathered to discuss guidelines for promoting tourism between the two countries. Finally, both sides decided that the "16th Taiwan-Japan Tourism Summit Forum" in 2025 will be held in Tottori Prefecture, Japan, looking forward to Taiwan-Japan tourism cooperation creating new wins for both sides.
The Tourism Bureau added that Kaohsiung has a pleasant climate year-round and is Taiwan's ocean capital, as well as the only harbor city with both sea and air ports. It boasts rich scenery, diverse cultures, thriving emerging industries, and is known for its various cuisines. They hope that through this Taiwan-Japan Tourism Summit Forum, more Japanese VIPs will understand the new Kaohsiung, plan travel products accordingly, and bring more Japanese tourists to Kaohsiung. For more information, please visit the Kaohsiung Travel website.
The director stated that after successfully bidding to host the 15th Taiwan-Japan Tourism Summit Forum in Kaohsiung during last year's visit to Japan, to present the beauty of Kaohsiung as the "Ocean Capital," the forum's main visual specially used sea blue color and the image of the 85 Sky Tower to symbolize the harbor city of Kaohsiung. Orange was used to symbolize Japan, integrating elements such as Taiwan's Bopomofo, Japanese hiragana and katakana, and Tokyo Tower in the design, presenting the image of rich exchange and cooperation between Taiwan and Japan. The itinerary arranged for visitors to ride a specially themed light rail train combining Kaohsiung Bear and the main visual, as well as cultural yachts and ferries, to understand Kaohsiung's cultural history, urban transformation, and the beautiful scenery of Love River Bay. Visits to famous attractions such as the Totoro Tunnel, Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts, Hamasing New Pier Station, Warehouse No. 2, Kaohsiung Port Cruise Terminal, i-Ride 5D Flying Theater experience, Zhen Fang Mullet Roe Factory, and Cihou Lighthouse amazed the VIPs and operators. The three days of lunch and dinner were presented under the three main themes of "Great Kaohsiung, World Champion," "Colorful Kaohsiung, Ethnic Cultures," and "Trendy Kaohsiung, Inheriting Innovation." All menus were specially crafted using Kaohsiung ingredients, and local characteristic art performances and sharing by Kaohsiung champion artisans were arranged. These included the "Nibun Chorus," which won the gold medal at the 12th World Choir Games in South Korea, the "Ten Drum Art Percussion Group," which was nominated for a Grammy Award in the United States, the "Zhenzong Art Troupe - Female Eight Generals" symbolizing gender equality, the "2024 Kaohsiung Neimen Song Jiang Battle Array Champion Team," "Tianhong Garden Puppet Theater," and the "Neo-Classical Chamber Ensemble" performing Taiwanese folk songs and Hakka songs. There were also performances by the "Zuyun Cultural Music and Dance Troupe" and the "Coming True Fire Group," which left deep impressions on Japanese guests. Champion artisans invited included internationally renowned bread master "Master Wu Pao-chun," Chen Chun-chi of "Hong Shing Winery" who won double gold championships at the Brussels World Spirits Competition, Mars Huang of "Caffe Artigiano" who won three championships at the Australian International Coffee Roasting Competition, Wang Peng-chieh of "Shakespeare Bakery" who won the Coupe Louise Lesaffre, Liugui Xinfa Community's native mountain tea which received three stars in the "Food Industry Michelin" ITQI evaluation in Belgium, "Little Sweetheart Handmade Jam" which won gold at the 2023 "Dalemain World Marmalade Awards & Festival Japan Tournament," and Kaohsiung's signature agricultural and fishery products from local farmers. These showcased Kaohsiung's world champions and best specialties, presenting Kaohsiung's diverse aspects in hopes that Japanese guests would love Kaohsiung and choose to visit only Kaohsiung when traveling to Taiwan.
The director mentioned that representatives from both Taiwan and Japan jointly announced the "Kaohsiung Declaration" at this forum, continuing to develop "sustainable tourism" as a vision for the future. As flights between Taiwan and Japan gradually resume, they will actively promote healthy and balanced exchanges between Taiwan and Japan, working towards the goal of 7 million mutual visits between the two sides. Japanese VIPs included representatives from the Japan Tourism Agency of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association, Japan National Tourism Organization, Japan Travel and Tourism Association, Japan Association of Travel Agents, airlines, and railway operators, as well as tourism agencies and industry representatives from various prefectures and cities including Shizuoka, Mie, Kagawa, Ehime, Kochi, Toyama, Aichi, Tottori, Oita, Kumamoto, Miyazaki, and Okinawa. Taiwanese participants came from tourism agencies in Taipei City, New Taipei City, Taichung City, Tainan City, Chiayi City, Chiayi County, Pingtung County, Yilan County, Taoyuan City, Hsinchu City, Nantou County, representatives from various domestic tourism industries, and units such as the Taiwan-Japan Relations Association. In total, over 200 representatives from the tourism industries of Taiwan and Japan gathered to discuss guidelines for promoting tourism between the two countries. Finally, both sides decided that the "16th Taiwan-Japan Tourism Summit Forum" in 2025 will be held in Tottori Prefecture, Japan, looking forward to Taiwan-Japan tourism cooperation creating new wins for both sides.
The Tourism Bureau added that Kaohsiung has a pleasant climate year-round and is Taiwan's ocean capital, as well as the only harbor city with both sea and air ports. It boasts rich scenery, diverse cultures, thriving emerging industries, and is known for its various cuisines. They hope that through this Taiwan-Japan Tourism Summit Forum, more Japanese VIPs will understand the new Kaohsiung, plan travel products accordingly, and bring more Japanese tourists to Kaohsiung. For more information, please visit the Kaohsiung Travel website.
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