Kaohsiung Records the Nation’s Fastest Growth in Foreign Tourists, Expands International Outreach, and Gains Global Recognition at the Global City Tourism Summit
Updated:2025-12-03
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2008
Kaohsiung tourism has reached the international stage, becoming a global focal point! The inaugural "Global City Tourism Summit," co-hosted by the Tourism Promotion Organization (TPO), Busan Metropolitan City Government, and Busan Tourism Organization, took place in Busan, South Korea, late last month (October 26th-29th). Kao, Min-lin, Director of Tourism Bureau of Kaohsiung City Government, recently represented the city at this major event, participating in the mayor's roundtable meeting and actively engaging with over 1,200 government officials, city leaders, and tourism industry representatives from 22 cities across 13 countries spanning Europe, the Americas, Asia, and Africa—including South Korea, Japan, France, Denmark, Mongolia, Rwanda, Turkmenistan, Malaysia, Vietnam, and Guatemala. Beyond vigorously promoting Kaohsiung's tourism appeal, participants jointly issued the "Global City Tourism Joint Declaration." Director Kao also held bilateral discussions with officials from sister city Busan, demonstrating Kaohsiung's robust momentum and competitiveness in advancing sustainable tourism and establishing itself as an international city, continuously raising Kaohsiung's global profile and deepening the city's diplomatic and international cooperative relationships.
Director Kao noted that Kaohsiung joined the Tourism Promotion Organization (TPO), headquartered in Busan, South Korea, in 2012, maintaining frequent tourism exchanges with Asia-Pacific nations. This inaugural "Global City Tourism Summit" in Busan marked the first expansion of Asia-Pacific city tourism exchanges to 22 cities across 13 countries in Europe, Asia, and Africa. The program featured keynote addresses, forums, roadshows, and bilateral exchanges. Through attending this summit and leveraging TPO's international cooperation platform, Kaohsiung actively shared its recent tourism development strategies—reshaping the city's international image, establishing city IP and event brands, advancing smart city initiatives and concert economy, promoting sustainable ecotourism, and highlighting local cultural distinctiveness. These efforts have yielded significant achievements: ranking first nationally in both tourist numbers and tourism satisfaction for two consecutive years, leading the six special municipalities in international tourist growth, becoming Taiwan's only city recognized by travel media and international booking platforms Agoda and Klook, and winning international awards for tourism innovation, sustainability, and exhibition marketing. These accomplishments fully demonstrated Kaohsiung's urban tourism competitiveness, earning strong recognition from participating international cities and effectively expanding Kaohsiung's global visibility. Kao also represented Mayor Chen, Chi-mai at the "Mayor's Roundtable Meeting," joining 14 mayors and city leaders from Busan, Hyuga, Copenhagen, Nice, Ulaanbaatar, Kota Kinabalu, Manjung, Taiping, Kigali, Ashgabat, and other cities to explore local tourism innovation strategies. Participants signed the "Global City Tourism Joint Declaration," collectively committed to advancing global tourism policy implementation, integrating innovative technology, promoting network cooperation, and pursuing sustainable development. Kao emphasized that as a harbor city with diverse mountain, sea, river, and port resources, Kaohsiung found this Global City Tourism Summit and Mayor's Roundtable Meeting to be not only a tourism policy exchange platform but also a vital stage for showcasing the city's tourism capabilities and international perspective.
Kao explained that participating in TPO's "Global City Tourism Summit" enabled active engagement with major global cities and international cooperation discussions, while also facilitating bilateral meetings with host city officials including Busan Mayor Park Heong-joon and Tourism and MICE Bureau Director Kim Hyun-jae. Both sides conducted in-depth discussions and reached preliminary agreements on city tourism marketing and promotion, smart tourism, cruise tourism and MICE industry cooperation, city mascot IP collaborative initiatives, and joint cultural tourism events between Kaohsiung and Busan, establishing tourism cooperation frameworks with substantial results. Beyond in-depth engagement with TPO representatives, city leaders from various nations, and Busan Metropolitan City Government officials, summit activities included active discussions with Korea Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Korea Tourism Organization, Busan Tourism Organization, Eastar Jet airline, major Korean travel agency Hana Tour, Agoda, Mastercard, and other international business representatives. These exchanges addressed Kaohsiung tourism marketing promotion, charter flights, and direct flight matters, actively expanding Kaohsiung's tourism business opportunities. Kao stated that attending this "Global City Tourism Summit" and exchanging with cities worldwide continues deepening Kaohsiung's international tourism marketing and city diplomacy. Through conference presentations, signing cooperation declarations, and in-depth exchanges, the world can witness Kaohsiung's urban appeal and tourism strength. The city warmly invites all participating representatives to visit Kaohsiung and personally experience its mountains, sea, rivers, and ports—from metropolitan harbors to Hakka villages and indigenous communities, discovering its rich ecological diversity, cultural charm, and warm hospitality!
The Tourism Bureau noted that according to the statistics of the Tourism Administration, Ministry of Transportation and Communications, South Korea ranks as Taiwan's third-largest inbound market. Last year, one million Korean tourists visited Taiwan, with Korean visitors staying in Kaohsiung growing by 44.52%—the nation's highest increase. Kaohsiung offers pleasant weather and convenient flight access, with 379 weekly flights connecting 33 destinations, including over 50 weekly flights to and from major Korean cities—Seoul, Gimpo, Busan, and Jeju Island. Combined with Kaohsiung's distinctive cuisine, golf courses, and numerous major festivals, the city has become Korean travelers' preferred winter destination. Kaohsiung and Busan established sister city relations in 1966, both possessing scenic harbors framed by mountains and sea along with rich cultural heritage. That same year, the Kaohsiung and Busan Tourism Associations also formed a sister association relationship, maintaining close ties. In February 2024, Busan Tourism and MICE Bureau Director Park Geun-rok, along with TPO and Busan Tourism Association representatives, led delegations to Kaohsiung for exchanges. That September, Director Kao of Kaohsiung City Tourism Bureau led a delegation to Korea for an international tourism promotion conference, visiting Seoul and Busan tourism organizations and private institutions. This past June, the director attended the 38th "TVA/KATA Taiwan-Korea Tourism Exchange Conference," actively promoting Kaohsiung tourism highlights to Korean officials and airline and travel industry professionals. This time, the director represented Kaohsiung City Government at the "Global City Tourism Summit" and Mayor's Roundtable Meeting, conducting bilateral meetings with Busan Metropolitan City Government—not only effectively raising Kaohsiung's international profile but also reinforcing the long-term strategic development of Taiwan-Korea tourism exchanges and Kaohsiung city marketing.
The Tourism Bureau explained that Kaohsiung has actively advanced smart and sustainable tourism in recent years, consecutively earning first place nationally in tourism satisfaction from "Global Views Monthly," winning both the Sustainable Happy City Award and Excellence City Award from "CommonWealth Magazine," and receiving recognition from Agoda as "Asia's Most Affordable and Fun City" and from Klook as "2025 Global Most Anticipated Emerging Travel Destination," plus feature recommendations from mainstream media including CNN and Lonely Planet. Recent years have seen Kaohsiung actively develop its "City Tourism Brand" and "Concert Economy," successfully driving economic momentum in city festivals and tourism through internationally renowned Intellectual Property (IP) artistic characters. For instance, "Rubber Duck" attracted over 9 million visitors, while the "Chiikawa" event drew 6 million, successfully marketing the city brand through cultural creativity. Meanwhile, leveraging premium venues and administrative efficiency, Kaohsiung has attracted international superstar acts including BLACKPINK, Coldplay, and Bruno Mars, generating NT$3.3 billion in tourism revenue and demonstrating that tourism and cultural events have become vital engines driving urban economic development. Looking ahead, the Kaohsiung City Government Tourism Bureau will continue actively collaborating with key international partners including the Tourism Promotion Organization (TPO) and cities worldwide such as Busan, to advance Kaohsiung city brand marketing, implement sustainable tourism policies, and develop diverse cultural and creative programs, establishing Kaohsiung as Asia's most attractive travel destination.
For more tourism information, visit the "Kaohsiung Travel" official website, Facebook page, and Instagram.
Director Kao noted that Kaohsiung joined the Tourism Promotion Organization (TPO), headquartered in Busan, South Korea, in 2012, maintaining frequent tourism exchanges with Asia-Pacific nations. This inaugural "Global City Tourism Summit" in Busan marked the first expansion of Asia-Pacific city tourism exchanges to 22 cities across 13 countries in Europe, Asia, and Africa. The program featured keynote addresses, forums, roadshows, and bilateral exchanges. Through attending this summit and leveraging TPO's international cooperation platform, Kaohsiung actively shared its recent tourism development strategies—reshaping the city's international image, establishing city IP and event brands, advancing smart city initiatives and concert economy, promoting sustainable ecotourism, and highlighting local cultural distinctiveness. These efforts have yielded significant achievements: ranking first nationally in both tourist numbers and tourism satisfaction for two consecutive years, leading the six special municipalities in international tourist growth, becoming Taiwan's only city recognized by travel media and international booking platforms Agoda and Klook, and winning international awards for tourism innovation, sustainability, and exhibition marketing. These accomplishments fully demonstrated Kaohsiung's urban tourism competitiveness, earning strong recognition from participating international cities and effectively expanding Kaohsiung's global visibility. Kao also represented Mayor Chen, Chi-mai at the "Mayor's Roundtable Meeting," joining 14 mayors and city leaders from Busan, Hyuga, Copenhagen, Nice, Ulaanbaatar, Kota Kinabalu, Manjung, Taiping, Kigali, Ashgabat, and other cities to explore local tourism innovation strategies. Participants signed the "Global City Tourism Joint Declaration," collectively committed to advancing global tourism policy implementation, integrating innovative technology, promoting network cooperation, and pursuing sustainable development. Kao emphasized that as a harbor city with diverse mountain, sea, river, and port resources, Kaohsiung found this Global City Tourism Summit and Mayor's Roundtable Meeting to be not only a tourism policy exchange platform but also a vital stage for showcasing the city's tourism capabilities and international perspective.
Kao explained that participating in TPO's "Global City Tourism Summit" enabled active engagement with major global cities and international cooperation discussions, while also facilitating bilateral meetings with host city officials including Busan Mayor Park Heong-joon and Tourism and MICE Bureau Director Kim Hyun-jae. Both sides conducted in-depth discussions and reached preliminary agreements on city tourism marketing and promotion, smart tourism, cruise tourism and MICE industry cooperation, city mascot IP collaborative initiatives, and joint cultural tourism events between Kaohsiung and Busan, establishing tourism cooperation frameworks with substantial results. Beyond in-depth engagement with TPO representatives, city leaders from various nations, and Busan Metropolitan City Government officials, summit activities included active discussions with Korea Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Korea Tourism Organization, Busan Tourism Organization, Eastar Jet airline, major Korean travel agency Hana Tour, Agoda, Mastercard, and other international business representatives. These exchanges addressed Kaohsiung tourism marketing promotion, charter flights, and direct flight matters, actively expanding Kaohsiung's tourism business opportunities. Kao stated that attending this "Global City Tourism Summit" and exchanging with cities worldwide continues deepening Kaohsiung's international tourism marketing and city diplomacy. Through conference presentations, signing cooperation declarations, and in-depth exchanges, the world can witness Kaohsiung's urban appeal and tourism strength. The city warmly invites all participating representatives to visit Kaohsiung and personally experience its mountains, sea, rivers, and ports—from metropolitan harbors to Hakka villages and indigenous communities, discovering its rich ecological diversity, cultural charm, and warm hospitality!
The Tourism Bureau noted that according to the statistics of the Tourism Administration, Ministry of Transportation and Communications, South Korea ranks as Taiwan's third-largest inbound market. Last year, one million Korean tourists visited Taiwan, with Korean visitors staying in Kaohsiung growing by 44.52%—the nation's highest increase. Kaohsiung offers pleasant weather and convenient flight access, with 379 weekly flights connecting 33 destinations, including over 50 weekly flights to and from major Korean cities—Seoul, Gimpo, Busan, and Jeju Island. Combined with Kaohsiung's distinctive cuisine, golf courses, and numerous major festivals, the city has become Korean travelers' preferred winter destination. Kaohsiung and Busan established sister city relations in 1966, both possessing scenic harbors framed by mountains and sea along with rich cultural heritage. That same year, the Kaohsiung and Busan Tourism Associations also formed a sister association relationship, maintaining close ties. In February 2024, Busan Tourism and MICE Bureau Director Park Geun-rok, along with TPO and Busan Tourism Association representatives, led delegations to Kaohsiung for exchanges. That September, Director Kao of Kaohsiung City Tourism Bureau led a delegation to Korea for an international tourism promotion conference, visiting Seoul and Busan tourism organizations and private institutions. This past June, the director attended the 38th "TVA/KATA Taiwan-Korea Tourism Exchange Conference," actively promoting Kaohsiung tourism highlights to Korean officials and airline and travel industry professionals. This time, the director represented Kaohsiung City Government at the "Global City Tourism Summit" and Mayor's Roundtable Meeting, conducting bilateral meetings with Busan Metropolitan City Government—not only effectively raising Kaohsiung's international profile but also reinforcing the long-term strategic development of Taiwan-Korea tourism exchanges and Kaohsiung city marketing.
The Tourism Bureau explained that Kaohsiung has actively advanced smart and sustainable tourism in recent years, consecutively earning first place nationally in tourism satisfaction from "Global Views Monthly," winning both the Sustainable Happy City Award and Excellence City Award from "CommonWealth Magazine," and receiving recognition from Agoda as "Asia's Most Affordable and Fun City" and from Klook as "2025 Global Most Anticipated Emerging Travel Destination," plus feature recommendations from mainstream media including CNN and Lonely Planet. Recent years have seen Kaohsiung actively develop its "City Tourism Brand" and "Concert Economy," successfully driving economic momentum in city festivals and tourism through internationally renowned Intellectual Property (IP) artistic characters. For instance, "Rubber Duck" attracted over 9 million visitors, while the "Chiikawa" event drew 6 million, successfully marketing the city brand through cultural creativity. Meanwhile, leveraging premium venues and administrative efficiency, Kaohsiung has attracted international superstar acts including BLACKPINK, Coldplay, and Bruno Mars, generating NT$3.3 billion in tourism revenue and demonstrating that tourism and cultural events have become vital engines driving urban economic development. Looking ahead, the Kaohsiung City Government Tourism Bureau will continue actively collaborating with key international partners including the Tourism Promotion Organization (TPO) and cities worldwide such as Busan, to advance Kaohsiung city brand marketing, implement sustainable tourism policies, and develop diverse cultural and creative programs, establishing Kaohsiung as Asia's most attractive travel destination.
For more tourism information, visit the "Kaohsiung Travel" official website, Facebook page, and Instagram.
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