Tainan Travel

One step ahead before easing of entry restrictions? Tainan City Government continues to promote international tourism! On July 27th, Tainan City Tourism and Travel Bureau, Sendai City Tourism & Convention Bureau, Sendai Tourism, Convention and International Association (SenTIA), and the Tainan Association of Travel Agents held an online exchange meeting to promote the rich tourism resources of the two cities and to discuss the promotion of international tourism between the two cities in the post-pandemic future. Director-General Kuo Chen-Hui of the Tainan City Tourism and Travel Bureau also delivered the opening address, while Director Kenichi Okuyama of the Tourism Exchange Department of the Sendai City Tourism & Convention Bureau, Chairman Hiroshi Ishikawa of SenTIA, Chairman Tsai Cheng-Hung of the Tainan Association of Travel Agents, and dozens of industry representatives participated in the "cross-border" online exchange to promote international tourism in Taiwan and Japan in the post-pandemic era.

Tainan Mayor Huang Wei-Che noted that although the global pandemic has not yet abated at this moment, the Tainan City Government team, in addition to doing a good job of epidemic prevention, have not slacked off in planning for the recovery of the tourism industry during the pandemic and in the post-pandemic era. For example, last year, in response to the domestic epidemic, the Tourism and Travel Bureau of Tainan City Government encouraged restaurant operators to join the "Safe Restaurant" and "Tainan Restaurant Safe Ordering", and promoted the "Epidemic Prevention and Safety Seal" and the international "Safe Travel Stamp Certification Program". At the same time, "multilingual menus" and a "tourist taxi" program with services in Chinese, English, Japanese and Korean are offered, so that visitors to Tainan can have fun and enjoy their visit without any inconvenience. Tainan City is honored that the SenTIA and the Sendai City Tourism & Convention Bureau have given Tainan the opportunity to promote itself internationally so that Japanese friends can learn about Tainan as a city safe to visit with peace of mind. The city looks forward to the opportunity for friends from Sendai City to come to Tainan and explore the beauty of Taiwan’s ancient capital.

In her opening address, delivered in fluent Japanese, Director-General Kuo Chen-Hui of the Tainan City Tourism and Travel Bureau expressed her gratitude to the Sendai City Tourism & Convention Bureau and SenTIA for inviting Tainan to cooperate in organizing international tourism exchanges. The two cities not only complement each other in terms of natural landscapes and rich cultural heritage, but are also both signatories to the International Exchange Promotion Agreement as sister cities, and have been interacting with each other continuously for 16 years since the agreement was signed. During the pandemic, Tainan City and Sendai City have even supported each other spiritually and materially. Sendai City was first built by Date Masamune, the feudal lord of Sendai, who laid the foundation of the current city of Sendai.

Kuo also pointed out that before the COVID-19 pandemic, Japanese tourists made up about 40% of visitors to Tainan, and showed signs of growing year after year. It is regrettable that the global tourism industry has been greatly affected by the pandemic. In these challenging circumstances, it is an important issue how to effectively carry out pandemic prevention measures while continuing to promote and market to international tourists, so that foreign visitors will be willing to choose Tainan as a tourist destination after the pandemic subsides. The exchange session focused on the entry guidelines for tourists after border reopening, the promotion of tourism in the two cities and the current tourism situation. Sendai is renowned for its long history, cultural heritage, as well as specialty foods, which echoes Tainan's image as the capital of history, culture, and food in Taiwan. Visitors from Sendai will definitely enjoy traveling in Tainan.

With the expected lifting of border restrictions, Tainan is ready to welcome Japanese visitors to Taiwan.