Taiwan is making headlines for the right reasons. Strong relations with mainland China and direct flight access with some of its leading cities, plus a series of high-profile international business events have revealed a country that is ready to host MICE groups.
The country’s convention bureau, Meet Taiwan, is targeting mainland China for incentives thanks to the strengthening of ties between the two countries. For conventions and exhibitions the target is more Asia and Europe.
Taiwan’s Bureau of Foreign Trade Ministry of Economic Affairs is offering a range of subsidies to entice international MICE groups to help this process. The maximum available grants are US$160 per person and US$88,000 per convention respectively, depending on the number of foreign participants, venue, scale and date of the event.
“Any organisation bidding for international conventions, exhibitions, and activities can apply for the subsidy. A maximum subsidy of US$18,000 can be offered for each project,” says Sin Chen, project leader at Meet Taiwan.
INTERNATIONAL GROUPS
Recent incentives held in Taiwan include Amway, which brought a group of 12,000 people and Bayer Healthcare China, which concluded an incentive for 2,700 people earlier this month.
Kitty Wong, managing director of professional conference organiser K&A International, says: “Taiwan is a new and safe destination that most people have never visited. Taipei is also very convenient to most corporates who are based in China. It is our turn to be the central Asian City for congresses and incentives.”
The country also has new infrastructure to entice international groups. In the past two years Taiwan has opened the new Taipei World Trade Centre Nangang, a high-quality exhibition hall with 45,000 sqm of usable space that is served by two train stations linking it to downtown, while several hotels have also upgraded their facilities including Shangri-La’s Far Eastern Plaza and Sheraton Taipei.
SECOND CITY
Meanwhile, the southern city of Kaohsiung is also staking a claim as a viable business events option with a handful of high-quality hotels including the Grand Hi Lai and the Splendor Hotel Kaohsiung. The city also recently built a 40,000-seat stadium to host the World Games.
However the most impressive development will be the E-Da World complex, which is due to open in May. This will be Taiwan’s biggest mall complex and will also feature conference facilities, theatres and two hotels including one Crowne Plaza.