Vital Taiwan market seeking upgrades

Taiwanese travel agents see enhancements as a way to restore tourist confidence, writes Molpasorn Shoowong

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Declining confidence among Asian travellers has also affected the Taiwanese market this year.

Even though the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) remains hopeful about increasing arrivals from Taiwan to 1.2 million in 2026-up from the 1 million targeted this year - Taiwanese travel agents emphasise the need to upgrade products and services in order to restore tourist confidence.

SEVERAL HEADWINDS

Sarima Chindamat, director of the Taipei office, said the TAT has revised down the target for this market to 1 million due to several headwinds.

Those include the earthquake in March and call centre scams that lured foreigners to work in neighbouring countries by using Thailand as a transit hub.

One recent factor was the skirmishes along the Thailand-Cambodia border, prompting Taiwan to issue a yellow travel alert for Thailand in July.

The US tariff policy also put pressure on the overall economy and impacted spending among tourists, she added.

At present, tourists are seeking more emotional and experiential value during their trips, with smaller groups of 10-30 people and a personalised itinerary.

Potential segments include senior travellers, millennials, families and niche markets such as golfers as well as LGBT tourists.

In terms of capacity, there were 1.9 million airline seats a year between Taiwan and three cities in Thailand — Bangkok, Chiang Mai and Phuket.