MEET TAIWAN Destination Marketing Roadshow In Singapore Concludes With High Fives All Around
The Singapore pit stop on MEET TAIWAN’s incentive travel roadshow, powered by IT&CM Events, was a resounding success, welcoming close to 100 buyers and media at the half-day event on 27 June 2018 at Mandarin Orchard Hotel. Eagle Tour, Lion Travel Service Co., Ltd., MSL Group, Taiwan Tour, ABLY Conference and Exhibition CO., Ltd., Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center, Taipei City Government, EVA Air, and China Airlines were the 9 companies and organisations brought in exclusively to meet with decision-makers interested in incentive travel, corporate incentives, alternative tours, and educational itineraries.
On how the networking event has helped to further promote Taiwan as a coveted destination, Jessie Tseng, Executive Director of MEET TAIWAN, elaborated, “Taiwan and Singapore maintain a very close relationship when it comes to travel and tourism. Networking roadshows are one of the ways MEET TAIWAN reaches out to targeted segments of MICE and Incentive Travel buyers and allows relevant operators to meet face-to-face to promote corporate meetings and incentive travel to Taiwan. This is our fifth year here, and every year, we bring in operators from different fields of MICE and incentives to introduce to our Singaporean guests and fulfil their business needs. ”
Kicking off the event, MEET TAIWAN’s Executive Director Jessie Tseng made a surprise entrance to much applause, donning an indigenous Taiwanese costume and addressing the crowd with an introduction to Taiwan’s encapsulating beauty. Taipei’s Nangang Exhibition Center, Taiwan’s largest tradeshow venue, also gave a glowing presentation of their latest Hall 2 set to open officially in March 2019. The new hall will feature some of the latest state-of-the-art conference and exhibition capabilities, with a 3,600 capacity multi-functional conference hall, complimentary WiFi, and sky garden, all fully designed with sustainability in mind.
The highlight of the day was the interactive segment of the roadshow, where Taiwan delegates mingled with buyers and media in a speed networking session after their individual demonstrations on stage.
MICE buyer, Atika Rosli, first-time attendee and MICE Manager for 8th Wave Events & Destinations, a corporate events and destinations management company, felt that the presentations by vendors were particularly insightful. “As our business revolves around MICE and destination management services for our clients, learning about the support programmes and one-stop resources offered by MEET TAIWAN were especially informative.”
MICE and Incentive buyer, Alvin Valencia, MICE Manager for New Shan Travel Service, an established tour agency, could attest to the impressive range of adventure and team building activities offered by some of the delegates, having experienced some of the activities themselves. “We see a trend in groups preferring to include team building elements and side tours into their programmes. As such, agents need to continually find new and novel activities to include in their offerings. We managed to find potential partners when we attended last year, and in turn, bring more groups up to Taiwan. This year, we are looking forward to do the same.”
The Taiwanese companies that were brought in for the event also had good things to say about their fruitful time with prospective buyers.
Said Brito Teng, Product Planner Inbound Department of Lion Travel, one of the biggest travel agents in Taiwan, commended, “It was a very successful event for us as we got to share our passion for our city and encourage more visitors to experience the beauty of Taiwan. Singapore is an important market for Taiwan because it is so accessible both ways, and we hope to continue to promote MICE to our destination.”
Said Han Chang, Manager of ABLY Conference and Exhibition CO., Ltd., who was one of the delegates that took part in a panel discussion on the ease of organising events in Taiwan, “MEET TAIWAN has put in a lot of effort for such networking roadshows to come to fruition and showcase vendors like ourselves. Through the speed networking session, we got to make personalised connections with each guest and exchange contacts easily. There will be many prospects to follow up with once we are back in Taiwan.”
This year’s MEET TAIWAN roadshow is making five stops in Southeast Asia – Manila, Singapore and Kuala Lumpur in June, as well as Indonesia and Vietnam in September. With incentives offered by Taiwan government’s “New Southbound Policy” towards to Southeast Asian countries, MEET TAIWAN expect more meetings and business groups from the region to visit Taiwan and establish Taiwan as the premier MICE destination in Asia.
About MEET TAIWAN
Taiwan’s MICE Promotion Program (MEET TAIWAN)
The Bureau of Foreign Trade (BOFT) under the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) has been sparing no efforts to improve Taiwan’s MICE industry since 2009. For continued investment in the industry, Taiwan’s MICE Promotion Program (MEET TAIWAN) , was launched to steer Taiwan’s MICE industry to shine on the global stage.
Taiwan’s MICE Promotion Program is aimed at turning Taiwan into a leader for outstanding MICE services with the long-term objective to enhance the quality and efficiency of services, strengthen Taiwan’s brand and sharpen the competitive edge in the global market and make Taiwan one of the top destinations for MICE business.
The task force under the program will continue to exploit advantages of Taiwan’s MICE industry to attract more business opportunities, maximize the visibility of MEET TAIWAN and increase international recognition of Taiwan’s MICE industry. By doing so Taiwan’s MICE industry services could become more visible internationally bringing more international MICE events to Taiwan.
