TAIWAN TURNS UP THE SUMMER HEAT

Dear Travel Trade Partners,

With summer in full swing both in the UK and Taiwan, travel and events are at their peak season of the year.

Taiwan is bursting with festivals, exhibitions and unique events during the summer making it an ideal holiday destination, especially on the east coast. With the Taroko Gorge and Qingshui Cliffs, the coast offers magnificent landscapes and adventurous opportunities while also providing slower paced activities. With experiences centred on food, culture, shopping and outdoor immersion, the Taiwanese culture is truly revealed to guests from near and far. Taiwan specializes in unique festivals that highlight the diverse arts, music and literature of the country, best known and most active during the months of July to September. Taking place in Taiwan’s top cities including the Matsu Islands, Taoyuan City, Sanyi Township and many others, one can enjoy summer festivities from a host of different locations. Perhaps the biggest events include Taitung County’s International Balloon Festival, New Taipei City’s HO-HAI-YAN Gongliao Rock Festival and Nantou County’s Sun Moon Lake Swimming Carnival.

The UK’s Taiwan Tourism Bureau continues the national advertising campaign showing off all that Taiwan has to offer, raising consumer awareness and encouraging travel to one of the most exciting countries in Asia. We have also launched our brand new online travel agent training course, which is the perfect way to stay informed and up to date with all things Taiwan – plus anyone completing and passing the course currently goes into the draw to win a pair of flights to Taiwan with Eva Air!

Soak up the authentic summer savour of Taiwan!

Taiwan launch new agent training online course, with fantastic incentive

Following the recent launch of the brand new training course for agents, featuring updated content, stunning visual images, and helpful sales information, the Taiwan Tourism Board are offering one lucky agent the chance to win TWO return flight tickets to Taipei. These are flying with the prestigious EVA Air, Taiwan's national carrier, and are in EVA's premium economy cabin, known as Elite Class. Anyone who takes, completes and passes the newly launched training course BEFORE October 31st 2016 will be eligible to win this fantastic prize. The competition winner will be announced in November 2016. The prize is subject to availability, and the winner will be required to cover all taxes in order to redeem. The course can be accessed at www.taiwan-travelexperts.com. Full T&Cs can also be found there.

Taiwan International Balloon Festival

The Taiwan International Balloon Festival attracts visitors from all over the world as vibrant hot air balloons take to the sky in a sea of colour in Taiwan's southeastern coastal city of Taitung County. The festival, which began in 2011, provides opportunities for aerial events and even came close to breaking a world record for length of time and scale of event. This year, the festival will take place from July 1 - August 7 and also includes flying shows, mooring activities, balloon rides, wedding celebrations and a night glow concert. Visitors also have the chance to take flight in the balloons, read more here: http://eventaiwan.tw/cal_en/cal_20022.

New Shopping and Entertainment Complex in Kaohsiung

A recent attraction in Kaohsiung is Taroko Park, a shopping and entertainment venue with modern ammenities and a sports-themed amusement park. Visitors to the new park simply use Kaohsiung's iPASS stored-value card for payments, avoiding the hassle of buying an entrance ticket. The park's biggest draw is the Suzuka Circuit Park, a course for cart-racing mimicking the Formula 1 Suzuka Circuit located in Japan. Offering quite the opposite than the eastern Taroko National Park, the new attraction area is sure to satisfy visitors, both local and international. For more information, visit www.tarokopark.com.tw (in Chinese only).

Ferry Trips to Green Island and Orchid Island

Visitors can now easily plan travels to Green Island (Ludao) and Orchid Island (Lanyu) on Taiwan's southeastern coast. A ferry route has been established that departs from Fugang Harbor in Taitung

County and arrives at Orchid Island followed by Green Island on the return journey, and ending back at Fugang. Known as the "triangle route," this new journey will only operate during Taiwan's summer months. The combination tickets cost NT$2700 as opposed to single Orchid Island tickets at NT$2300 and single Green Island tickets at NT$920. Fungang's previous ferries will continue as before, taking visitors to only one of the two islands. To book tickets, call 089 281 477 or visit www.281477.com.tw (in Chinese only).

Taiwan Culinary Exhibition

The Taiwan Culinary Exhibition will take place August 5 - August 8 in Taipei, showcasing not only culinary cuisine, but kitchenware, culture and dining atmosphere. Food culture combines local ingredients with well-known cooking styles to increase diversity and encourage internationality. The exhibition also features cooking competitions with famous chefs from around the world, giving visitors the opportunity to participate and experience unique Taiwanese cuisine. Since 1989, each year highlights a different theme that communicates the growth and authenticity of the exhibition. Read more by visiting: http://www.tcetva.tw/.

New Tours to Taiwan

Ramblers Holidays released a 13 day nature-focused Taiwanese Discovery holiday featuring the vibrant capital of Taipei, Sun Moon Lake and Alishan in the Central massif mountains, Kenting National Park, Chihpen Forest Park in Taitung along with Taroko National Park and Yangmingshan National Park. Departure dates are 3rd November 2016 and 31st March 2017, which coincides with the Qingming (Tomb Sweeping) Festival where rituals and celebrations take place to honor ancestors. Learn more and book at www.ramblersholidays.co.uk.

The Travelling Naturalist offers a birdwatching holiday where one can expect to see a wide variety of species from black-faced spoonbills to Arctic warblers and Siberian rubythroats. Taiwan's unique endemics include Swinhoe's and Mikado pheasants and around 20 other species. Departure dates are 12th November 2016 and 11th November 2017. For more information and booking visit http://www.naturalist.co.uk/tours/taiwan-endemics-winter-migrants?q=taiwan.

Are you launching any new tours? Contact the Taiwan Tourism Bureau at taiwan@brightergroup.com

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For further information on Taiwan please visit http://eng.taiwan.net.tw

Email taiwan@brightergroup.com or telephone 020 7326 9880.

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Note to editors

For media enquiries, please contact Laoise Collins at the Brighter Group on Laoise.Collins@brightergroup.com or telephone 020 7326 9880.