Taiwan – the Place to Meet.
Taiwan’s state-of-the-art MICE infrastructure, its colorful, diverse culture, spectacular mountains and stunning landscapes, clear blue seas, and bountiful natural resources are helping to draw or divert more global incentive travelers to its shores. Adding to its natural splendor are Taiwan’s highly accessible and advanced transportation networks, which serve effectively to break down the tyranny of distance, generating a far more pleasant experience for international visitors who are lured by the promise of novelty and excitement not experienced elsewhere in Asia. It is hardly surprising therefore to witness a burgeoning of inbound incentive travel into Taiwan from multinational companies.
SSPC’s Asia-Pacific Annual Training Conference was held on January 11th, 2011 at the National Taiwan University Sports Center. The Conference by day focused on the latest technology, research and development activities, discussing issues relating to industry development and future trends, while the nights were devoted to lively shows and social activities. The Tourism Bureau sponsored aboriginal dance performances, SSPC staff organized a Spanish Flamenco dance, magic and other performances, which brought the event to its climax. The Bureau of Foreign Trade (BOFT) generously provided funding in support of the event, while the Tourism Bureau also, through BOFT, gave financial support for delegates undertaking sightseeing tours during the Event. This made it possible for the organizers to arrange visits to Taipei 101 Observatory, the National Palace Museum, Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall, Sun Moon Lake, Yangmingshan, Shilin Night Market. These famous attractions gave visitors the chance to experience Taiwan’s capital city and various natural and cultural wonders.
The German Bayer Schering Pharma Bayer Group’s China branch, Bayer Schering Pharma (China) held a very successful “Bayer Schering Pharma Annual Meeting 2010” at the Taipei Nangang Exhibition Hall from January 26th to 28th, 2010. The well-executed event allowed the local host, Signet Travel Co., Ltd., an invaluable opportunity to learn more about the requirements of organizing a conference and exhibition. The event was highly commended by the participants. With regard to the issue of travel passes for travel between Taiwan and mainland China, the Signet Travel Co. thought very highly of the support of the BOFT in granting flexibility for mainland China delegates to enter Taiwan, and that was regarded as a key element constituting the success of this event.
Following the “2009 Asia Pacific Leadership Conference (Herbalife University),” which was held at the Taipei Nangang Exhibition Hall from September 11th to 13th 2009, Herbalife once again chose Taiwan to host its Herbalife Spectaculars Hong Kong and Taiwan 2011 from January 21st to 23rd. This time, the Kaohsiung Arena was chosen as the venue. The 3-day event brought together 12,000 participants from Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau, Singapore, Malaysia, and the USA who participated in medical seminars, high-achiever group meetings, Herbalife business opportunity meetings, training sessions and various other types of training, recognition, and motivation activities.
Besides a wealth of professional seminars, the Host Committee staged the “Herbalife Star Concert” in the evening of January 22nd. It opened with a spectacular dance number delivered by the Herbalife President and various Herbalife members who were all dressed to kill, followed by an exciting array of songs by such well-known singers as A-Lin, Sam Lee, and Tommy Yu Zhang, who enlivened the atmosphere by singing and shouting along with the participants, fully demonstrating the vitality and vigor of an enterprise on the ascendency. Since the event had settled on Kaohsiung Arena as the venue, this gave rise to business opportunities for the southern region’s MICE industry and related businesses. It also allowed foreign participants a chance to experience Taiwan’s southern hospitality and friendly people. It helped to increase the visibility of Kaohsiung and enhance the development of the MICE industry in the southern region.
With extensive experience in hosting international business events and exhibitions, Taiwan boasts of a highly sophisticated service culture. Its rich culture, tourism resources, highly effective industry professionals, and premium soft power provide value-added to industry, generating an environment conducive to competitiveness and creativity. To strengthen marketing initiatives to position Taiwan as a main MICE destination, the Taiwan MICE Advancement Program-International Marketing and Promotion Project will continue to be involved in this year’s major international industry events, such as the World Wide Exhibition for Incentive Travel, Meetings, and Events (IMEX) to be held at the end of May in Frankfurt, Germany.
