[Reported by Tainan News Center] The Tainan City Government Tourism Bureau held a press conference on the 2013 administrative results on December 18, to report to all sectors its achievements in the current year and major tasks to be implemented next year. During the press conference, Director-General Chun-An Chen explained the major administrative achievements made this year.
First of all, in regard to global marketing and promotion, the Bureau proactively joined a number of global organizations, convened international conferences and engaged in intercity exchanges. The Bureau received Best Marketing Campaign Award during the 6th General Assembly of Tourism Promotion Organization for Asia Pacific Cities (TPO) this September, which indicated that local tourism has gained significantly increased international exposure and the Bureau’s efforts in international promotion have been highly recognized. Moreover, the Bureau proactively revitalized Tainan Airport and facilitated airport internationalization. Examples of international flights include regular charter flights to and from Wuhan last year and regularly scheduled flights between Tainan and Hong Kong this year, which successfully increased the city’s share in the international tourism market. In order to strengthen global marketing and continuously promote international business, the Bureau specifically established the International Affairs Division for a sound organization structure.
In terms of travel services, the visitor information centers throughout the city have completely initiated the country’s first mobile services and received numerous awards for their service quality, including third place in the national group and individual categories and the nation’s only service quality enhancement award in the visitor information center ranking by the Tourism Bureau in 2013. The Bureau also launched Michelin-starred walking trails and provided tour guide services to help visitors to better experience the life in Tainan and thoroughly explore the local history and culture. Among the tours, the “999 Happy Stroll in Tainan, the Home of Salt” and “Tainan City Historic Walking Trails” received the national tour gold medals from the Travel Quality Assurance Association, and the “Roaming around in History: Michelin-Starred Spots Tour in Tainan,” which is a 2-day tour, won the title of one of the Top Ten Happy and Fun Tours in Taiwan this year. Furthermore, the Bureau will establish the Travel Service Section next year to highlight the importance of travel services and upgrade local travel services.
The Bureau also proactively assisted hotel operators to participate in the star ratings to achieve qualitative and quantitative boosts in the tourism industry. Currently there are 31 starred hotels in this city, receiving 90 stars in total, which is the second highest number in Taiwan. As accommodation is the core sector of the tourism and travel industry, the Tourism Bureau conducted periodic inspections and strengthened guidance for qualitative and quantitative boosts to offer diverse accommodation options for tourists. In addition, the Bureau examined local resources and formulated plans to improve the insufficient travel facilities in the city at present while introducing private resources and soliciting investments in tourism businesses, in order to stimulate tourism development.
Besides the above achievements, the Tourism Bureau accomplished a number of tasks:

1. Completed the development and water supply for the hot springs in Guanzihling and Gueidan, and garnered a cumulative total of 32 hot spring marks, building the image of the No. 1 Hot Spring Area in Taiwan and the Top Three Mud Baths in the World. The resource investigation and survey for Shueiyun Hot Spring were also completed. Its excavation is scheduled for next year.
2. Sponsored the Tainan Food Festival to promote local delicacies; assistance was provided to integrate the 319 vendors of delicious food, snacks, drinks, frozen desserts and souvenirs from the 37 districts of this city for promotional purposes.
3. Promoted Taiwanese beef by inviting the participation of 43 blanched beef shops, drawing millions of people to the official Facebook page of the mayor and efficiently promoting the 2013 Tainan Blanching Beef Festival.
4. Integrated the 267 shops and 607 products in this city into the 2014 Tainan Gourmet Souvenir Catalog, to promote local products to the whole country.
5. Organized theme tours and developed the experience economy. Numerous diverse package tours were launched, such as the Michelin-Starred Spots Tour, All Seasons Hiking Tours, religious tours, trips to experience the rural village life and ecological tours. A number of large tourism activities were also held, drawing crowds of tourists to Tainan.
6. Cooperated with Akira Chen, a film director, to shoot microfilms “Happiness Sushi” and “Oyster Man” to promote tourism in Tainan. The two films attracted more than 70,000 views.
7. Promoted the Taiwan Easy Go Tourist Bus Line 8899, which had the highest occupancy rates in Taiwan. The cumulative number of passengers exceeded one million, hitting a record high among the 31 Taiwan Easy Go lines throughout the country.
8. Developed the Chinese version of the i Tour Tainan App, which provides access to over 2300 entries of information about the delicacies, accommodation options, transportation and scenic spots in Tainan. This app contains the richest information among the official apps in Taiwan.

According to Director-General Chen, the number of visitors to the greater Tainan area increased every year. As the engine that drives the development of tourism in Tainan, the Tourism Bureau will continuously strengthen city marketing and promote gourmet souvenirs while embarking on such tasks as the next phase of the evaluation of the premises for the product center and digitalization of the Tainan Gourmet Souvenir Catalog. In response to to the low-carbon cities campaign, the Bureau will promote low-carbon tours and local food ingredients and initiate the new Michelin 3-star tours: the Stroll along Five Channels in the Ancient City and Wandering about Yuejin Port tours. With respect to boosting the tourism industry, the Bureau will place an emphasis on creating high value for the hot spring business, achieving excellent accommodation quality and implementing the Shueiyun Hot Spring excavation project and organizing the Guanzihling Fire and Water Spring 300^th anniversary events in 2014, in order to build a brand image for the hot springs in Tainan. On top of that, issues such as listening to visitors’ comments and feedback and creating a friendly tourism environment require immediate attention from the public sector. As the regular flights between Tainan and Hong Kong have made a successful beginning with stable growth in occupancy rates, two more scheduled flights will be added next year to offer passengers more options. The Bureau will also endeavor to recruit investments in the tourism industry and enter into investment agreements, while proactively seeking the possibilities for Anping and West Central Districts to be designated as tourist zones. By so doing, the Bureau hopes that visitors will spend more time and money in Tainan and that this city will become what Master Shih-Tao Yeh called “an ideal place for dreaming, working, falling in love, getting married and leading a carefree life” in his literary works as well as the top choice destination for travelers to Taiwan and the most charming tourist paradise in Asia.