Just DOIT: Taipei graduates from Universiade to Thailand pitch

Following Taipei’s successful hosting of the world Universiade, the Taipei City Government’s Department of Information and Tourism (DOIT) has been putting out its MICE messages at the 2017 IT&CMA (Incentive Travel & Conventions, Meetings Asia) in Bangkok, Thailand, 26-28 September. Under the promotional theme, ‘Taipei Makes Perfection’, the city’s MICE campaign is designed to build on the word-of-mouth reputational boom stimulated by the Universiade. Since the inauguration of visa-free entry for visitors from Thailand in August 2016, Taiwan has been receiving increasing numbers of Thai visitors, whose numbers hit 160,000 for the period January through July this year. The figure represented a 81.51% rise over in the same period last year. Speaking at a press conference at IT &CMA, DOIT senior specialist Chuen-Huey Jiang used the Taipei Universiade experience as a model to showcase Taipei’s ability to stage large-scale city events. Jiang said this year sponsorship assistance had been approved for a total of 133 MICE events to be staged in Taipei. The total includes 44 incentive group tours, a category that has seen 400% growth in numbers over last year.