Taiwan tourism & travel  台湾の観光&旅行  
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Taiwan

                               Taiwan's tourism & travel

 ranks 10th in Asia

★★ news 2021-4-21: US Travel State Gov. has changed Taiwan travel status from level 1 to level 3 ― Reconsider travel to Taiwan due to COVID-19-related travel restrictions

　

　

        
pic. left: This websites-group was ranked No.1  by "comment Taiwan tourism " on Google at  2021-4-22, 2021-3-17, 2-11-2021;
 pic. right: This websites-group was ranked No.1  by "comment Taiwan tour " on Google at  2021-4-22, 2021-3-17, 2-18-2021

　

                         

pic. left: This websites-group was ranked No.1  by "comment Taiwan travel " on Microsoft Bing  at 2021-4-22, 2021-3-17, 2-11-2021 ,12-11-2020, 10-31-2020, 8-2-2020, 7-7-2020,  9-4-2018, 6-22-2018  ( 2 items above are ads. )

pic. right : This websites-group was ranked No.1 on Bing by "comment Taiwan tour", 2021-4-22, 2021-3-17, 2-11-2021 , 12-11-2020, 10-31-2020, 8-2-2020,  7-7-2020,  3-7-2019, 9-4-2018, 6-22-2018 ; No1 "comment Taiwan tourism" on Bing ,10-31-2020

　

pic. : No.1 "comment Taiwan tour" on Yahoo Japan (largest search engine in Japan), 2021-4-22, 12-11-2020, 10-31-2020, 7-7-2020

　

　

pic. : No.1 "comment Taiwan tourism" on Yahoo Japan (largest search engine in Japan), 2021-3-17, 2-11-2021, 12-11-2020, 10-31-2020

　

　

           

pic. left: This websites-group was ranked No.1  by "comment Taiwan tourism" on Baidu of China  at 2021-4-22, 2021-3-17, 2-11-2021, 12-11-2020, 10-31-2020

pic. right : This websites-group was ranked No.1 on Baidu of China  by "comment Taiwan tour",  10-31-2020 ; top 3 at 2-11-2021

　

　

pic. : No.1 "comment Taiwan travel" on Yahoo Japan (largest search engine in Japan), 12-11-2020, No.2 at 2-11-2021

　

　

    
pic. left: No.1 "comment Taiwan tour" on US Google,  7-7-2020, 6-30-2020, 4-5-2020;  No.2 at 10-31-2020;  pic. right: No.1 "comment Taiwan tourism" on US Google, 7-7-2020, No.2 at 10-31-2020;
No.1 "comment Taiwan travel" on Google, 6-30-2020, 4-5-2020

　

　

　

pic. : No.1 "comment Taiwan night markets" on Yahoo Japan (largest search engine in Japan), 12-11-2020, 10-31-2020

　

　

pic. : No.1 "comment Taiwan restaurants" on Yahoo Japan (largest search engine in Japan), 12-11-2020, 10-31-2020

　

　

                  

pic. left: No.1 "comment Taiwan tour" on ASK, 7-7-2020, 5-16-2020;

pic. : This websites-group was ranked No.1 on ASK by "comment Taiwan tourism", 7-7-2020, 8-27-2019 

　

　

pic. :  No.1 "comment Taiwan restaurants" on US google, 7-31-2020,  7-1-2020, 4-2-2020, 12-23-2019 , 1-22-2020

　

　

pic. left: This websites-group was ranked No.1 on Baidu of China by "comment Taiwan tour", 11-29-2019, 8-3-2019 , No.3 at 5-16-2020

　

　

　

pic. left: This websites-group was ranked No.1 on Baidu of China by "comment Taiwan travel", 8-3-2019 

　

　

                     

  

　

pic. : This websites-group was ranked No.1 on Baidu of China by
 "comment Taiwan tourism", 11-29-2019, 8-3-2019, No.3 at 5-16-2020; 

　

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pic.: No.2 "comment Taiwan tourism" on QWANT of France (most well-known French search engine), 7-6-2020

　

　

   News reports

 ●  Apple Daily, 2021-4-10, editorial: The bane of Taiwan- backward infrastructures, e.g., no early-warning system for railway train, pollution in stream, air, dam, reservoir deposition, bad bus structure... ●  UDN, CTN, Apple Daily editorial、2021-4-3: train carrying 490 derails, about 50 dead 200 injured /  Serious transportation accidents repeat -  all are SOP ignoring man-made disasters, no one treats seriously the warning message behind each accident, The gov. is good at risk management and focus-shifting, instead of preventive management in advance, all these lead to tragedy again and again. The event is just a tip of a iceberg, Taiwan should establish a culture respecting human life.  Taiwan railway bureau got rigid grading system  and reform failure.    ● click for full details Taiwan transportation !

               

...............

...............●   USA Today, 11-21-2020:  No lockdowns, no downturn: Taiwan attracts skilled expats with (mostly) COVID-free life  ... But settling in Taiwan is not without its drawbacks ...Foreign professionals run up against a protectionist mentality in e-commerce segments ... Personal connections matter, too, in breaking into a market ... Taiwan’s English fluency lags Hong Kong and Singapore ... Taiwan regularly ranks as one of the most densely populated places on Earth, meaning ... outside easily overpower the sound of one’s own TV set ...Locals fret about the looming threat of China...  https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2020/11/21/taiwans-relatively-covid-free-life-attracts-skilled-expats/6322040002/

    

...............●   ABC Radio National, Australia, 2-27-2020:  What's most apparent when visiting Taiwan is how ordinary it is — ordinary in the sense of normal, everyday, functional. 
                      ps: In Taiwan, the houses/buildings are expensive "property", instead of "architecture arts",  the cars are for transportation or for business, always square shape with boring color, black, gray, etc,  hard to see a sports-car, convertible or a VW bug with clockwork on its butt ... unlike those with great vitality in the US !
 ...............●  Associated Press, 11-23-2020 says Taiwanese business may not be ethical ... mix the U.S. pork ( Ractopamine pork banned by 150+ countries ) with Taiwan pork ● Apple Daily, editorial, 1-5-2021:  chaos !! Taiwanese are not confident in gov. control strategy ―  "Taiwan pork only" seal.  e.g., famous Taiwan cuisine restaurant " Formosa Chang (鬍鬚張)" is questioned to mark the official seal but partly use foreign pork.
 ...............●   Liberty Times, 6-15-2020, editorial: Taiwanese always love traveling abroad rather than domestically.  Majority of foreign tourists to Taiwan came from China, but most of their consumption-profits are monopolized by Chinese-funded and Chinese-associated businesses.  All these have made Taiwan's tourism industry weak and sluggish-demanded.  It is undeniable Taiwan tourism needs to be improved the following items :

                        (1)  the prices of accommodation, catering and transportation are generally high but the quality is not good, shaping the stereotype that  traveling domestically are not as good as sightseeing abroad.
                        (2)  the tour often lacks humanistic & cultural connotations, ethnic groups' traditions, characteristics and lifestyles.  Although each area has its own old streets and night markets, it is  difficult to distinguish one from another.  In short, Taiwan lacks in-depth and exquisite tourism.
                        (3)  the government has not given importance to tourism industry,  "Insufficient resource integration capacity, insufficient investment, and insufficient marketing" .
...............●  Apple Daily, 2021-3-12:  Popular tourists-site Shi-lin night market "miserable street scene" , more bosses than customers, in that “expensive”, "smoke smells", "too homogeneous & unattractive", "delivery platforms are emerging", ... most ever stores closed in recent 30 yrs.
 ...............●  The China Times 7-15-2020, former minister of Transportation govt.  陳建宇 : Hotels and travel business were "starved" too long for CovID-19, therefore raise the price a lot to "revenge exploit" customers.  advice :
                        (1)  establishing DMO (目的地行銷暨管理組織 like Japan and Euro.)；
                        (2)  quality first, implement Market segmentation  Precision marketing；
                        (3)  Recreating a new tourists-friendly environment,  starts from tourist night market, till now the govt. only work on  innovation/renovation of night market's toilet room, the rest is far behind the standard of  int'l metro...  。full text:  https://www.chinatimes.com/opinion/20200714004912-262105?chdtv  
...............●  Apple Daily, 7-14-2020 editorial: Why do Taiwanese love travel overseas instead of domestically ?  The price is high and quality varies, therefore Taiwanese prefer Japan, Korea and South-East Asia.  Price cutting competition and  low-cost airline  exclude In-depth and exquisite tourism from tour list .  Govt.'s economic relief package only works on avoiding close-down instead of tourism enterprise transformation.   
full text:  https://www.chinatimes.com/opinion/20200714004912-262105?chdtv  

...............●  Korean ilbe（일베저장소、일베）slams Taiwan's messy & dirty environment,  cultural deprivation、 unpretty women、 the sense of Japanese  identification, which triggers hot argues after mainland Chinese posting Chinese version of it  (Sept. 2020)。

　

 New York Times, 7-31-2019, CNN 8-1-2019: China, an Eye on Elections, bans solo tourists from heading to Taiwan.    L.A. Times, 8-1-2019: The indefinite suspension is likely to prove a major economic hit to Taiwan, as well as a blow to cultural interplay.   Independent UK  8-1-2019:  It is a blow for Taiwan’s tourism industry.  Liberty Times 8-28-2019: Taiwan may loss 35,400 million dollars from the gross annual value of tourism in the second half of 2019.    United Daily (8-17-2019, editorial) : Very most part of Taiwan's current tourism difficult situation is caused by cross-Taiwan-Strait policy.    United Daily (8-22-2019, editorial) : Pension reform should be among key issues in Taiwan's tourism, because public servants, military and education field no longer support domestic travel as much as before.    United Daily (8-23-2019) :  Taiwan president Tsai: tourism won't go old route, current policy is to balance tourists flow, stimulate domestic demand, increase consumption-amount, satisfy tourist's appetite by bubble tea and local cuisine.   United Daily (8-28-2019, Focus) :  Visa-free and allowance can save tourism?  Lots of allowances were given to domestic tourists, but the number of Taiwanese traveling overseas hit new high again and again.   Apple Daily, opinion, 12-25-2019: Give up "almozo" policy to promote tourism,  Taiwan should go "quality oriented" route, not waste too much money !    Asia Nikkei 4-30-2019: Since 2016, China has attempted to punish Tsai (DPP) by reducing tour groups to Taiwan, but inbound tourists have steadily set records surpassing 11 millions for the first time last year... ; The United Daily, editorial,  7-15-2019 : An American economist Tyler Cowen was surprised at that Taipei was spinning its wheels, remains 85% unchanged (making smallest differences among Asian cities), motorcycles, small lanes ... everywhere, in contrast, GuangZhou city (廣州) has changed 90%, HK, Seoul, Singapore made huge differences only within 10 years ...;The United Daily 3-7-2019: Taiwan's tourism output value is suffering wallet homicide ! the deficit of foreign exchange is NT1728 billions, the deficit of the number of tourists is 5570 thousands.   The United Daily 10-6-2018 editorial opinion: Taiwan's 'heresy' policy of tourism (subsidies, visa-free) led to 800+ billion dollars decrease of earnings, because of lower consuming ability of South-East Asian tourists and smaller number of Chinese tourists.  Apple Daily,  head-page, 12-31-2018:  The amount of tourists spending per day and the number of days tourists staying decreased.   Washington Post at 1-5-2018: (The Chinese government...) "encouraging Chinese tourism to this island" (ps: during KMT in power ~ 2016 ).    New York Times at 2-22-2018: "The Chinese government has discouraged tourism to Taiwan...".   CTV news 3-9-2018 : beautiful island turns into killing island (traffic accidents), Taiwan's tourism might be a long dark night.   Apple Daily, opinion, 2-12-2018: lacking of monument elements, mature cultural creativity, and inexpensive tour-site hotels ...  shallow, careless, low-end quality led to an extremely low return visitor rate to Taiwan.   Apple Daily, Headline news 1-15-2018:  Taiwan tourism collapsed like a snow-slide, the number of tourists to Kenting National Park(墾丁貓鼻頭) dropped 59%,  to Taroko National Gorge (太魯閣) dropped 43%, etc, because of the number of Chinese tourists declined a lot and local people don't like those sites -  Apple Daily opinion 1-17-2018: expensive hotels, crowded traffic, getting ripped-off by greedy shops' ... UDN opinion 4-11-2018: tourism-related business everywhere are complaining of great hardship (齊喊苦).   food safety issues never end /  The China Times,  editorial 10-20-2018, UDN editorial 12-4-2018.   The United Daily 12-10-2018: tourism deficit expansion!  The number of Taiwanese traveling abroad is more than that of tourists to Taiwan.   

     unlike many others , this website won't give you fake  information or beautified pictures !

　

●

◆   One of the most underrated tourist destinations in Asia ?

　

World Economic Forum (WEF)  <Travel and tourism competitiveness report> released at 9-4-2019 shows Taiwan had the sub-region's largest decline in competitiveness from 30th down to 37th.   In the overall ranking list, Asian country Japan got No.4,  China No.13,  Hong Kong No.14,  Korea No.16, Singapore No.17,  Malaysia No.29,  Thailand No.31,  UAE  No.33,  India No. 34,... (ps: secret hackers attacked while my updating WEF report of 2019)
　

    ●   Taiwan's travel & tourism  - 10th in Asia
　
category Taiwan's rankings and/or score comparison
prioritization of travel and tourism   No75  Singapore No.6 ,  Hong Kong No. 11
Natural & cultural resources No.58  score 2.6 China  No.1, score 6.0 , France No.2,  5.0,  Spain  No.3, 5.7,   Japan No.7, 5.3,   Indonesia No.18,  Thailand No.21,  Korea No.24,  Vietnam No.26,  Malaysia No.31,  HK No.40,  Philippines No.46,  Sri Lanka No.52,  Nepal No.56
Natural resources  No. 87 Hong Kong No. 42, Singapore No.120
　
cultural resources & business travel No. 36  score 2.6 China No1, score 7.0
price competitiveness No. 78 China 5.7
Health & Hygiene  No.43,  score 6 score worse than Korea, Japan, Mongolia
international openness No. 60 only better than China, Mongolia
Safety & security No. 26 human resource & labor market: Taiwan No.18
 ps: Compared to the report of 2017,  Taiwan significantly tightened visa requirements (37th down to 119th), waning cultural resources and business travel (26th to 36th) and recalibrated figures showing a drastic reduction in protected areas (20th to 118th).

For full details :  http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_TTCR_2019.pdf

　

　

pic.: In World's Best Restaurants list, In Asia area, Australia, Singapore, Japan, India, Thailand, China, Korea are winners 

　

　
EATER  The World’s 50 Best Restaurants 2019: The Full List of Winners
None of Taiwan's restaurants was selected

Asia's winners:  Thailand  got world No.4 and No. 45 restaurant;   Japan No.11, 22;  Singapore No. 18;   China HK No.41;  China Shanghai No.48

https://www.eater.com/worlds-50-best-restaurants-awards/2019/6/25/18714984/worlds-50-best-restaurants-2019

in light of the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the restaurant industry worldwide, there will be no list this year

　

　

　

CNN    20 of the world's best new restaurants for 2020
None of Taiwan's restaurants was selected
 5 US restaurants were selected, UK (4), France (2),  Thailand (2),  China HK (1),   UAE Dubai  (1) , S Africa (1),   Swiss (1),   Portugal Lisbon (1),  Russia  Moscow (1),  Turkey (1)    https://edition.cnn.com/travel/article/20-of-the-worlds-best-new-restaurants-for-2020/index.html
CNN   Great plates: 15 new restaurants to try in 2019
None of Taiwan's restaurants was selected; Asian winners:  China  (2 : HK1,  Changsha China ) , Australia (2),  Japan Tokyo (1 ),  Philippines  Manila (1 )
https://edition.cnn.com/travel/article/best-new-restaurants-2019/index.html

　

　

Economist EIU : Global Food Security Index 2020      https://foodsecurityindex.eiu.com/country   
Among 113 countries, Singapore No.1,   US No.3,    Australia No. 12,   NZ No.19,   Japan No.21,   UAE 21,   Malaysia 28,  Korea 29,  Saudi Arab 30,  China 35, Thai 52,  Vietnam 54,  Indonesia 62, etc.
Taipei (Taiwan) was ranked No. 42 in Global Food Security Index of EIU Liveability Country Level Index (Jan. 2015), after 2021, Taiwan's ranking should drop a lot because U.S. pigs consuming ractopamine drug will be imported, and  “many who do business are not ethical. If they mix the U.S. pork with Taiwan pork and then sell it to us average consumers, we as individuals have no way to know the source of the pork.” reported by Associated Press, 11-23-2020.
　

pic. above: Taiwan's restaurants were loser or behind in EATER's "world best restaurants awards",  CNN "world's best new restaurants" and Economists EIU "Global Food Security Index".

　

　

●   Michelin stars (2020) in Asia
Michelin Guide cities

number of starred restaurants

   3-stars restaurants

   2 stars

一星   1 star
Tokyo (日本東京) 226 11 48 167
Hong Kong,
Macau (港澳)		 85 10 19 56
Kyoto (日本京都) 100 8 21 77
Osaka (日本) 111 3 16 79
Seoul (韓國首爾) 31 2 7 22
Singapore (新加坡) 44 2 5 37
Taipei  (台北) 26 1 6 19
Shanghai (上海) 23 1 2 20

　

　

　

●   Asia's 50 Best Restaurants 2020     3-24-2020
No.1 No.2  No.3 No.4  No.5  No.6  No.7 No.8 No.9 No.10
Singapore

Odette
restaurant

 HK,

China,

The Chairman
restaurant

  Tokyo,

Japan,

Den

 Hong Kong,

China,

Belon

 Singapore,

Burnt Ends

Bangkok,

 Thailand,

Sühring

　

 Tokyo,

Japan, Florilège

Bangkok,

 Thailand,  Le Du

Tokyo,

 Japan,

Narisawa

　

Osaka,

Japan,

La Cime

　
rank No.1 No.2  No.3 No.4 

www.theworlds50best.com/stories/News/asias-50-best-restaurants-2020-list-in-pictures.html
country Japan China Singapore Thailand
total number of
restaurants
selected		 12 12 (HK 8, Shanghai 2, Macau 2) 7 7

pic.: In Asia's 50 Best Restaurants, Singapore, China, Japan, Thailand are big winners 

　

　

　

 ●   US News & World Report 2020,  Asian countries' world rankings  
Cultural Influence No. 6 Japan,  No. 8 Australia,  No. 9 Singapore,  No. 16 China,  17. NZ,  18. Thailand,   20. Korea,  22. UAE,   30. India,   35. Qatar,  39. Malaysia,  40. Saudi Arabia,   41. Phil Cutting-edge centers of art, entertainment and fashion
Quality of Life No.5 Australia,   No. 8 nz,   14. Japan,  15. US,  19. China, 20. Singapore,  23. Korea,    25. UAE, 27. Malaysia,  28. Thai.,  30. India,  31. Philippines,  32. Indonesia,  33. Vietnam,   36. Qatar Through all phases of life, these countries treat their citizens well
Heritage No.6 India,  No. 9 Thailand, 10. Japan,  11. China, 18. USA,  21. Vietnam,  22. Singapore,  27. Australia,  29.  Indonesia,  30. Korea,  32. Malaysia,   37. NZ A deep vein of history courses through these countries
Adventure No.5 Thailand  No.7 Nrw Zealand,  10. Australia,  17. Philippines,   25. Singapore,   29. Malaysia,   33. USA,  34. Japan,   38. Vietnam,   40. India The best countries to fulfill your wanderlust
www.usnews.com/news/best-countries/influence-rankings

　

　

　

 ●   UNESCO’s list of intangible cultural heritage  /    https://ich.unesco.org/en/lists

ranks

 Asian country heritage items selected
1 China 40
2 Korea 24
3 Japan 20
4 Mongolia 15
5 India 13
6 Indonesia 10
7 Saudi Arabia 8
8 Cambodia 5
9 Philippines 4
10 Qatar 3
10 Malaysia 3
10 Pakistan 3
13  Thai 2
14 Singapore 1
14 Sri Lanka 1
14 Vietnam 1
14 UAE 1

18~3X

 Myanmar, Laos, Nepal 0
Taiwan 0
◆  Taiwan is doing De-sinicization (getting rid of Chinese culture) for political reason.

◆  sg.news.yahoo.com/singapore-hawker-culture-gets-nod-included-unesco-intangible-cultural-heritage-list-140941296.html  12-16-2020: Singapore’s hawker culture was officially approved on Wednesday (16 December) to be inscribed into UNESCO’s list of intangible cultural heritage of humanity.  The biggest thanks must go to the generations of hawkers for nourishing a nation’s stomach and spirits.   Taiwan is proud of its night market culture, but was not selected.

　

　

　
　

According to  World Economic Forum (WEF)  <Travel and tourism competitiveness report> (released at 4-6-2017), Taiwan's most important indexes for promoting tourism, like "Attractiveness of Natural Assets" (parks, beaches, mountains, wildlife, etc) ranks world No.87, "Natural Resources" ranks No.55,   "Environmental Sustainability" ranks No.75 (No.69 in 2015), "Price Competitiveness" ranks No. 46, "Hotel Price Index" ranks No. 89 (82 in 2015), Taiwan got "n/a" on China's strong indexes such as "World heritage natural sites" as well as "World heritage cultural sites" (world top 5).  Taipei mayor Ko just mocked tourism of Hong Kong and Singapore, however, they are very ahead in "Business Environment" and "Ground & Port infrastructure" (world top 2), "Airport  infrastructure" (world No.5 & 6 vs Taiwan no. 42 ), "Safety & security" ( No.5 and No.6 ) 。 Taiwan has excellent scores on "Mobile Network coverage", "ATM", etc, but those least likely are main attractiveness to international sightseers that Taiwan needs most.  According to government statistics "visitor arrivals by purpose in 2016",  only 7.61% foreigners came for business, conference, exhibition, most visitors are for pleasure, so we should not focus on WEF's overall score and ranking for Taiwan. 

　

China remaining the top source of tourists to Taiwan is because,  LA Times at 8-1-2019 said that (1) satisfying a curiosity, an important channel for knowing Taiwan (2) flights of no more than 2~3 hours (3) strong cultural and deep historic connection (4) religious, architectural and cultural similarities, the result of migration from China to Taiwan that began hundreds of years ago (5) take home new information from Taiwan’s newspapers, news websites and television channels, all free of censorship unlike on the mainland (6) stoking business.   How about the current status of Taiwan's tourism industries?  Liberty Times (10-31-2019): It's no fun traveling domestically, more Taiwanese would rather spend lots of money on traveling overseas.   Apple Daily (8-3-2019) commented that in these years Taiwan's travel and tourism still rely on old low strategies like price-cutting competition, cut-throat competition, or even ripping-tourists-off frauds...; Apple Daily (8-10-2019 論壇) wrote the city view of Shi-Mun-Din(西門町, a major tourism site) of Taipei is messy, even worse than some cities of South-East Asia.  United Daily (8-2-2019) said Taiwanese government's allowances given to citizens only cure the symptom not the disease, the budget should be used to improve tourism environment and to build up tourism body, e.g.,  facilities & infrastructure - we only have very little South-East Asian tourists friendly stuffs for them...   UDN (8-23-2019), scholar criticized Taiwan tourism counts on slogans and small-eats of night markets, without a long-term plan.  

 

　

　
data 2018
area population number of tourists (person in time) times
Hong Kong 7.3 million 65.1 million 1:9
Macau 0.65 million 35.9 million 1 : 55
Singapore 5.6 million 18.5 million 1 : 2.3
Taiwan 23 million 11.25 million 1 : 0.5
　
　 　

　


Chinese visitors and tourists to Taiwan (in millions) ,  Direct flights  between Chn and TW began at 2008,  DPP (Green) in power from 2016
source:  Asia Nikkei 4-30-2019, Taiwanese government

　

　

　

Average consumption (USD) daily of foreign tourists
 (Japan, Korea, China, HK&Macau, USA, Singapore, Malaysia)  from 2015 till 2017

   

unit: USD     source from TW gov., Apple Daily, Aug., 2019

yr

2015

2016

2017

overall avg.

 207.87 192.77 179.45
Japan 227.59 241.42 214.05
S. Korea 207.08 188.06 194.58
China 227.58 198.43 184.38
HK & Macau 184.76 182.98 183.92
USA 163.63 149.03 155.67
Singapore 205.07 229.43 152.25
Malaysia 162.07 142.45 　

　

★ BBC, UK, 7-31-2019: the number of Chinese tourists (in time) in 2015 is about 4.18 million, dropped to 2.7 million on 2018 (https://www.bbc.com/zhongwen/trad/chinese-news-49178224 7-31-2019)
 ★ Telegraph, UK, 7-31-2019: China remains the top source of tourists, with close to 2.5 million visiting last year

　

　

　

Economist - E.I.U. 2018:  Food Security Index 

★ overall rankings:  No.1 Singapore,  18, Japan,  22. Qatar,   25. S Korea,  40. Malaysia,   46. Chn.
 ★ Quality & Safety rankings:   13. S Korea, 20. Japan,  21. N. Z. ,  24. Singapore,  31. Qatar,  37. Chn.

★ Natural Resources:  No.  65  Chn.
 ★ Taiwan is not included in 2018's list

★ In EIU Liveability Country Level Index (Jan. 2015), Taipei's "Food Security Index" ("1" means "Most Secure") is "42", same score
as those of communist China's major cities 

　

　

　

　

●

BBC UK, The SUN (2-13-2017):  "Bus Crash Horror !" -  Taiwan's "safety standards need to be improved".   A few days later another fatal tour-bus accident occurred.   The major official newspaper of the ruling Chinese Communist Party, People's Daily  (8-4-2016 editorial ):  <Chinese tourists not dare to visit Taiwan in the future  without safety assurance>  / Taiwan tour disasters are sort of man-made disasters , Taiwan tourism's major problems  include loopholes in law and regulation 、careless mistakes in administration or not-good-enough system of organization, other malpractices are traveling load-bearing capacity (旅遊承載能力)、road-traffic safety 、aviation safety 、road maintenance 、safety standard for tour bus 、Modified Automobiles/Fix-up tour bus、Low-end tour groups … tragic accidents happening again and again open Pandora's box, too many tourist victims reveal Taiwan tourism's problems, Taiwan authority tried to do something (亡羊補牢) each time a tragic accident occurred, but it seemed late and same kind of tragedies never cease.    A big gas-cylinder LPG-explosion in Fengjia (逢甲) night market (known as largest night-market business district in Taiwan) proved this again, the China Times (7-19-2017) lashed out all this sort of night-market districts across Taiwan have similar safety problem, enforcement officials even don't know  which is more important - grass-roots' (common-people) making money or public security.  Food safety is another major issue, good-taste is not equal to safety, Taiwan's most famous Toxicology expert & professor Yin M.D. (顏宗海, U. London ) advised that "Minimize the times of dining out to protect your health !

●

Taiwan has never reached top 20 in  <Travel and tourism competitiveness report> in past years.  In 2020, Taiwan ranks the 10th among Asian countries.   Taiwanese media always reported one overall ranking based on all indexes, but, only about 7% of international visitors came Taiwan for business purpose (Liberty Times, official statistics, 9-5-2015), about 85% Chinese visited Taiwan for tourism (recreation, pleasure) purpose, so Taiwan needs to focus those tourism-related indexes in world reports.  According to <Travel and tourism competitiveness report> of 2015,   Taiwan's index "Prioritization of Travel & Tourism" was ranked world No.82,  "Country Brand Strategy" was ranked world No. 125,   the ranking of "Tourist service infrastructure" is No. 77,  "Quality of Natural Environment" is No.75, "Environmental Sustainability" No.69, "Natural Resource" No.62,  "Hotel Price Index" is world No. 82,  "Travel and tourism industry development" is No. 53, "Airport Density" No.113, besides, "World heritage natural sites" and "World heritage cultural sites"  both n/a are put in the last position.  Will world tourists come for some Taiwan's high-score items, e.g., "quality of railroad" (world No.7), " internet users" (world No.24) ?   Taiwan likely lack confidence in its travel sights and historic spots, a latest tourism advertisement (by John Wu &  Kimura Takuya, costs USD 1.7 million, Sept.-Dec. 2015) being broadcasted in Japan targets small-eaters, instead of sightseers.    Besides, World Economic Forum gave a high score to Taiwan's "HIV prevalence" (Taiwan dropped to No.59 in 2017's report),  but WEF forgot Taiwan is notorious for HIV and AIDS Social Stigma issue, USA Country Reports on Human Rights practices (released at 6.26.2015) stated 60 percent of HIV carriers in Taiwan left their jobs due to coercion and bullying ( ●  Taiwanese personality ).  The United Nations (UNAIDS) concerns about AIDS patients' education human rights in Taiwan (July 2016).    Years ago Taiwan banned, but communist China welcomed Basketball Hall of Famer Earvin "Magic" Johnson.

●

　

　

 
 world's most livable cities  ... include Taiwan's ?

Till 2020, Taiwan has not been included in the top ranking list of the world's most livable cities  
　

world's most livable cities
world best surveys Taiwan's rankings
in top list		 comparison with
other Asia & Pacific countries
 The EIU's Global Livability Index Ranking   2019  failed in the top 50 No.2  Melbourne,  No.3  Sydney,  No.4 Osaka (Japan), No. 7 Tokyo,  No.10  Adelaide,  No.12 Auckland (NZ),   No.15 Wellington (NZ),   18 Brisbane  (Aus) ,    No. 38 Hong Kong,  No. 40 Singapore,   No.57  Seoul (Korea),  Taipei behind   
Safe Cities Index (SCI)  2019,   EIU (Economist UK), NEC failed in the top 20 No.1  Tokyo, No.2  Singapore, No.3 Osaka (Japan),  No.5 Sydney (Aus), No. 8 Seoul (Korea), No10 Melbourne, No. 20 Hong Kong 　
ArchDaily / The World's Most Livable Cities in 2019 failed in the top 20 No. 3. Auckland, New Zealand, 11. Sydney, Australia,  No.15. Wellington, New Zealand , No.17. Melbourne, Australia  
 The EIU's Global Livability Index Ranking   2018  failed in the top 50 No.2 Melbourne (Australia),  No.3  Osaka (Japan),  No. 7  Tokyo (Japan) ,  No.10       Adelaide  (Australia),   No.12 Auckland (NZ)    Wellington (NZ) ... ... (omitted),  Taipei 58
 The EIU's Global Liveability Index Ranking   2017  failed in the top 50  No.1  Melbourne,  No. 5  Adelaide,  No. 7  Perth,
No. 8 Auckland (NZ),  No.11 Sydney,  No.13  Tokyo,  No.  14  Osaka,  No.16 Brisbane,   No. 20 Wellington (NZ),  No. 35 Singapore,  No.45  Hong Kong,  No.58  Seoul (Korea),  No.60   Taipei  
　 　 　

EIU (Economist UK)'s  Global Liveability Index evaluates stability, healthcare, culture&environment,  education,   Infrastructure

　
　

★ United Daily News TV (8-23-2015, 8:00 pm, Taiwan) commented tourism is related to a country's living conditions, and analyzed many Taiwanese had trips to Japan because they love to experience high living environment (comments by SHU professor Chen J. Y.).   The tbl. above compares Taiwan's livability with that of other Asian countries.
　

　

Referring to another global famous report, 2014/2015 <Country Brands Index>, Taiwan's score is below average perceptions in both the Status and Experience dimensions (indexes  including "Value for money", "Range of attractions", "Resort & lodging options", "Would like to visit for a vacation", "Food"; "Historical points of interest", "Heritage", "art & culture", "Natural beauty", etc).

Some other Asian countries without rich heritages (similar to Taiwan) reached excellent achievements on tourism & travel.  On 2015's <Travel and tourism competitiveness report>, Japan's ranking is world No.9 (Prime Minster Abe is building the nation upon tourism strategy), Singapore No.11, Hong Kong No.13, mainland China No.17, on the list of 2011, Singapore was ranked world No.10, Hong Kong No.12, Australia No. 13, New Zealand No. 19, Japan No.22, Korea No. 32, Malaysia No.35.    
◎

United Daily News TV (8-23-2015, 8:00 pm, Taiwan) commented tourism is related to a country's living conditions, and analyzed many Taiwanese had trips to Japan because they love to experience high living environment (comments by SHU professor Chen J. Y.).  But, UK's Economist Intelligence Unit ― "Liveability Cities" report (Aug. 2015) ranks Taipei world No.60 (Taipei's Tourism leader 簡余晏 8-20-2015 expressed the ranking will go up in next year, hopefully), Mercer's "Quality of Living" ranks Taipei world No. 83, and gives another city Tai-Chung world No.99, Monocle's "Quality of Life" top list includes no Taipei.   The China Times reported (9-21-2015) air pollution ( PM10 : 41ug/m3 ) and environmental quality in Taiwan both were ranked almost the last position in OECD countries.  (by Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics, Executive Yuan, R.O.C. TAIWAN)   Taiwan university - college of Public health's associate dean: Taiwan's PM2.5 air-pollution-control standard is 15 years behind, and hence create a legitimate environment to kill people (1-4-2016 L.T. http://news.ltn.com.tw/news/life/paper/945998).   BBC UK, The SUN (2-13-2017): Taiwan's travel transportation "safety standards need to be improved".

◎
◆   One of the fastest-growing tourist destinations in the world

In spite of these bad scores, MasterCard study (6-2015), in terms of the number of international overnight visitor arrivals last year, ranked Taipei 11th in the world and sixth in the Asia-Pacific region (ps: see tbl below).  Taipei is fast-growing tourist destination over the past five years.  The annual growth rate 14.9％ is ranked world No.1, In terms of international tourist spending last year, Taipei was ranked 11th in the world and fifth in the Asia-Pacific region. Last year, international tourists in Taipei spent US$9.28 billion  (Taipei Times, 6-6-2015) .  Euromonitor International released at 1-28-2017 "Top 100 City Destinations" ranking in terms of international tourist arrivals in 2015, Taipei ranks No. 14 (higher than Tokyo , Seoul), Taichung No. 97. (No.1 Hong Kong, No.2 Bangkok, No. 4 Singapore, No. 6 Macau)

　

Taiwan's tourism has been evaluated as non competitiveness, but surprisingly attracts huge number of tourists and money, Why  ?

The Washington Post at 1-5-2018: (The Chinese government...) "encouraging Chinese tourism to this island".    The China Times (中國時報, 7-14-2015) points out, increasing communist Chinese tourists led to Taiwan's fast growth on tourism. ( 這「反映出開放陸客的成果」。)  In accordance with the Liberty Times(7-7-2015), the number of Chinese tourists is 90,000 in 2008, 540,000 in 2009, 3,330,000 in 2014 (ps: correct number should be : 3,987,152), besides, tourists from China's Hong Kong & Macau (1,375,770 persons) also help a lot.   Is this part of communist China's widely-known political policy "Allowance of profits" to Taiwan("讓利"政策)? 

◎
◆   Alarm-bell sounds ?!

　

New York Times at 2-22-2018: "The Chinese government has discouraged tourism to Taiwan...". (since DPP in office, around 2016 )

Before that, some Taiwanese Legislators worried and criticized (7-7-2015) that Taiwan's tourism depending on red Chinese tourists may causes serious national security problems  ――  They probably reminded of Japanese "tours for advice & information" ("參謀旅行") before having invaded China in WWII.   The China Times (5-15-2017): Losing huge number of Chinese tourists resulted in closing many local businesses (hotels, travel agencies, tour bus companies, shopping stores ).  CTI TV news(5-16-2017, 9:30am): Chinese tourists' amount of daily consumption  is USD 120, other countries' average amount USD 48;  However, The New York Times (5-18-2017):  a declining number of Chinese tourists can be offset, to some extent, with visitors from other Asian markets.   The United Daily (8-27-2016) editorial: The relationship between Taiwan and China falling back leads to a misery & cutting-throat situation of tourism industry, and soon will affect other related industries - hotel, aviation, restaurants and retails.   The China Times(12-19-2016): Taiwan's tourism industry looks like a great boom, but tourism business refuted it " all are fake !"...  Taiwan should worries and needs diversification of risk :  attracting new tourists ― Korean, South-East Asian, Middle-Easterners, Westerners, instead of putting all eggs in one basket ― expecting more Chinese tourists.

It's a challenge !  official report found the number of American tourists is only 458,691, Euro. tourists even fewer - only 264,880 (UDN TV (8-23-2015): many westerners regard Taiwan as an electronics factory ... ) .   The total number of Westerners is only 1/7 ~1/8 the number of Chinese tourists.   Taiwan also failed to attract Asians/Easterners other than Japan (1,634,790 persons),  even Taiwanese prefer traveling overseas, in last year, the number of tourists visiting Taiwan is 9.91 million, but Taiwanese went overseas is up to 11.84 million, foreign countries earned Taiwanese money 159.6 billion. 

Why?? and what's the solution?
◎

 

Taiwan's soft power  vs.  Asia's soft power

Till 2020, Taiwan has not been included in Portland or USC Soft Power survey , etc,  Taiwan's soft power is behind Asian's "world top 20" nations , including Japan, South Korea, Australia, Singapore, New Zealand, China, India, UAE. 
   for details : click Soft Power
　

world best surveys Taiwan's rankings
in top 25~30 list		 comparison with
other Asia & Pacific countries
 2019/2020 
Top 30 SOFT POWER by Portland		  not included No. 8 Japan, No.9  Australia, No. 17 New Zealand,  No. 19  S Korea, No. 21 Singapore, No. 27 China
US News: 2020 Best Countries Overall
The Best Countries in the World		 n/c No.3 Japan, No.5  Australia, No. 11 New Zealand,
No. 15 China, No. 16 Singapore , No. 20  Korea,
No.22 UAE , No.25  India,  No. 26  Thailand,
No. 30  Qatar
2018/2019 Monocle's Soft Power survey  not included No. 3 Japan, No.8  Australia, No. 11 New Zealand, No.15 Korea, No. 19 China,  No. 21  Singapore,  No. 25 India
2018/2019 Soft Power 30 Study by USC Center on Public Diplomacy  not included No.5 Japan, No. 10 Australia, No. 18 NZ, No. 20 S. Korea, No. 21 Singapore, No. 27 China
2017/2018 Monocle's Soft Power survey  not included No. 4 Japan, No.9 Australia, No. 13 New Zealand, No.17 Korea, No. 19 China,  No. 22 Singapore, No. 24 India
2017/2018 Soft Power 30 Study by USC Center on Public Diplomacy  not included No.6. Japan,  No. 8. Australia,  18. NZ,  No. 20 Singapore, No. 21 S. Korea,  No. 25.  China
2016/2017 Monocle's
Soft Power survey		  not included No. 3 Japan, No.6 Australia, No. 13 New Zealand, No.17 Korea, No. 20 China,  No. 23 Singapore, No. 24 India
2015/2016 Monocle's
 Soft Power survey		  not included No. 4 Japan, No.6 Australia, No. 13 New Zealand, No.15 Korea, No. 21 China,  No. 23 Singapore

 

★ According to a survey of 2020, Singapore ranks No.1, Japan No.7, Korea No. 9 on "enterprise",  Japan ranks No. 5, China No.10 on "engagement", Korea ranks No. 5 on "digital", Japan ranks No.6, China No. 8 on "culture", No any Asian country ranks top 10 on "education" and "govt."
　

★ Best Countries overall in 2020:  1 Swiss 2 Canada 3 Japan  4 Germany  5  Australia  6  UK  7 USA  8 Sweden  9 Nederland  10  Norway  11 NZ  12 France  13 Denmark  14  Finland  15 China  16 Singapore  17  Italy  18  Austria  19 Spain  20  Korea  21  Luxembourg   22 UAE  23  Russia  24 Portugal  25  India  26  Thailand  27  Greece  28  Brazil  29  Israel  30  Qatar  31  Saudi Arabia   32 Malaysia   33 Mexico  34  Poland  35  Turkey

　

　
　

★ TVBS (7-14-2015, 9-15-2015 8:59pm) : Scholars and officials advised enhancing Taiwan's soft power, cultural creativity
to promote Taiwan's tourism industry.  The tbl. above compares Taiwan's soft power with other Asian countries'.

　


　

TVBS (7-14-2015, 9-15-2015 8:59pm) : scholars and officials advised cultural creativity cooperating with tourism, and enhancing soft power to promote Taiwan's tourism industry.  But according to UK based Monocle's global Soft Power Survey (2010/2011~2020), Taiwan's soft power even lost mainland China, and some other Asian countries, including Japan, South Korea, Australia, Singapore, New Zealand, India, UAE.    Taiwan also failed to be listed in 2018's Soft Power 30 Study by USC Center on Public Diplomacy in July 2018 and  2017's Soft Power 30 Study, compiled by PR company Portand Communication and University of Southern California.  Taiwanese government focused on political elections rather than cultural issues for years, soft power won't grow big overnight.

Unlike some tourism websites' beautified, glamor photo & words (ps 00), this non-profit site gives only true info. and unbiased critiques on Taiwan's tourism & travel.  Some small countries'  (Croatia, Hong Kong (14.16%), Jordan, Thailand(10.87%)) proportion of tourism income in GDP reached more than 10%, Malaysia, Singapore reached 7%~8% (ref. Liberty Times 10-22-2015, UDN TV 8-23-2015), certainly Taiwan needs forward thinking instead of focusing on "short-swing trading" & benefit, which may harm tourism industry, Taiwan requires accelerating the improvements of those weak elements mentioned in this web-site, so as to ignore the pressures (UDN, 2-25-2016: the number of tour-groups Chinese tourists may reduce 30%~60% daily) from China for political reasons.   

United Daily, opinion, 12-30-2017 : Taiwan's foreign exchange earnings from tourism decreased 300 billion dollars.  To promote tourism just in number of tourists, Taiwan's new mission “New Southbound Policy”  gave up the national principle of mutual benefit and equality, the "side-effect" the policy brought in illegal drug trafficking and illegal foreign workers.    An article by College of Comm., National ChengChi Univ. (5-10-2019) noted Taiwan tries to attract SouthEast Asian tourists by “New Southbound Policy” , but they cannot replace Chinese tourists because the number of tourists increases, the amount they spent are less ... ref. to   newslab.nccu.edu.tw/zh_tw/showcase/video/陸客不來了-新南向政策能否為台灣觀光業帶來轉機-74424413  Taiwan's advertisements only focus on "cheat eats" by using some widely-known stars.  

◎

Woody Allen described New York as " beautiful women ...", in contrast, a money-oriented Taiwan can not build the country an elegant graceful "woman".   To promote tourism, Taiwan probably need to use tourists' curiosity (works only once or at most twice), or to attract 'lower class' people, or still need China's "encouraging Chinese tourism" ― communist's political policy "Allowance of profits".

　

◆   Taiwanese health is much important than making tourism money, Taiwan adm. should put more efforts on  food safety and pollution issues.

　

　

　

　

觀光外匯年減267億

　

　

● Taiwan government's 2 solutions to save tourism

(1) "in depth" tour - just a slogan, equals to give up the "patient" / UDN, opinion, 10-3-2017

(2) “New Southbound Policy” - equals no borders, cheap prostitutes and frauds from South-Eastern Asia countries invaded and occupied sex market. / CTN, headline, 10-17-2017.

　

● UDN 10-20-2017: scholars advised:
(1) new image and positioning, street food/night markets is no longer good enough.
(2) demassification & niche marketing, specific strategy for eco-tourism.  cheap-price or duty-free probably can't save TW tourism.  

　

　

 

PIC:  Without Chinese tourists, Taiwan's foreign exchange earnings
 decreased 267 billions (NT dollars)  per yr.  / The China Times,  10-4-2017, udn opinion, 12-30-2017

The number of tourists to Taipei attractions dropped sharply 2.7 million in upper yr.
 / United Daily, 10-20-2017

　

　

 　

◎
 ◎

  ●  Taiwan's poor creativity and culture can help its tourism industry as scholars advised ??
  
  


● Taiwan government logo

　

　

       

● Western (Canadian) logo appeared earlier
　

 　 　

　

  

    ● Taiwan state-owned enterprise logo
    ● pic. right:  Western logo appeared earlier

　

　

          
● logo designed by
Taiwan's national university     
   ● pic. right: Korea Seoul city logo
appeared earlier
　

　
　

Although Telegraph (Jan. 2017) mentioned Taipei's  "pioneering creative scene",  however, in fact ......

● Pic. above-left: Taiwan's college paper, professor, and tourism leader both advised : “culture is absolute a value-added & critical element in Taiwan Tourism industry” (United Daily, 12-11-2015).   Scholar comments that Taiwan needs attractions - better cultural creativity (The United Daily 12-21-2015).  TVBS (7-14-2015, 9-15-2015) : scholars and official advised Taiwanese cultural creativity cooperating with tourism, and  enhancing soft power to save Taiwan tourism.  The China Times (9-20-2015) editorial : "Culture (ps: cultural creativity) is best element to establish a country brand".  However, Taiwan's cultural creativity is poor.   For instance, pic. left is the logo of Taiwan government, since 11-9-1993, next 3 are logo of Canadian Pacific Rail, since 1968 till out-of-flavour, so it's a cheap-copy suspect.   Taiwan's official document states their logo "easy to identify and associate with Taiwan's brand ... a simple shape and modernized & internationalized, aesthetic design " ; but, exactly on the contrary, it's neither modernized, nor as aesthetical simple as CPR's logo... 

● Pic. above-right : Taiwan's another 2 official logos have similar problems ― easy to be associated with world famous logos.
● Government took the lead to plagiarize, and ignored copy-rights, Taiwan becomes "an island of Plagiarism" / Liberty Times 4-6-2016.

◎◎   understand Taiwan   in 1 minute  !!       TAIWAN            review Taiwan          comment Taiwan       No.1 rankings on the net   !
 ◎
　



　

The Star Online, 2-20-2020: US travel advisory warns of Taiwan
 "apparent community spread" ...
　

" community spread": people infected with the CoronaVirus ...
are not sure how and where they became infected


台灣旅遊警告建議 
　

◎
　 　

○◎ International famous tourism & travel reports

  Taiwan usually is not included on top ranking list of world travel and tourism rpt.

 ◎

◆  2015 Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Report

Taiwan's weakness : Taiwan's strength :
Index Taiwan's world rankings Index Taiwan's ranking
Country Brand Strategy No.125 taxi airport charges No.17
Prioritization of Travel & Tourism No.82 Internet Users No.24
Hotel price index No.82 access improving drinking water No.33
Tourist service infrastructure No.77 Mobil network coverage No.1
Environmental Sustainability No.69 quality of railroad No.7
Natural Resource No.62 Fuel price No.22
Purchasing power parity No.64 domestic transport network No.7
World heritage cultural sites the last position, n/a ps (China No.5) Business cost of violence No.11
World heritage natural sites the last position, n/a (China No.3) Taiwan has never been included in top 30 on <Travel and tourism competitiveness report> (2011~2015).
major car rental companies No.120
Travel and tourism industry development No.53

full rpt. pls. ref. to http://reports.weforum.org/travel-and-tourism-competitiveness-report-2015   TW overall index 32 in '15.

 

◎
◆  Country Brands Index 2014/2015

Taiwan's score : Taiwan's score location - "Countries" (left lower place)
Taiwan locates in "Countries" category, a lowest area  ―   having below average perceptions in both the Status and Experience dimensions.

Critera :
 ◎tourism / Value for money, Range of attractions, Resort & lodging options, Would like to visit for a vacation, Food ;
 ◎HERITAGE & CULTURE / Historical points of interest, Heritage, art & culture, Natural beauty;
etc.
◎“Country brands” – Countries that have above average perceptions across both the Status and Experience dimensions and have measurable competitive advantages over their peers as a result.
◎ “Experience countries” – Countries whose perception strength is biased towards dimensions relating to Heritage & Culture, Tourism and Made In.
◎ “Status countries” – Countries whose perception strength is biased towards attributes relating to Value System, Quality Of Life and Business Potential.
http://www.futurebrand.com/news/futurebrand-launches-the-country-brand-index-2014-15
◎ top 20 countries: Japan, Switzerland, Germany, Sweden, Canada, Norway, United States, Australia, Denmark, Austria, New Zealand, United Kingdom, Finland,Singapore, Iceland, Netherlands, France, Italy, United Arab Emirates, South Korea.

◎ top 20 most influential cities:  NY, London, Beijing, Washington, Moscow, Tokyo, Paris, Berlin, Shanghai, Dubai,  HK, Singapore, New Delhi, SaoPaulo, Rio De Janeiro, LA, Rome, Toronto, Seoul, Mumbai.

　

　

◆  Economist Intelligence Unit -  Global Most Livable Cities , '15

       Taipei's livability score ranks No. 60 in 2015, No.61 in 2013  (Tokyo No.15 in '15, Australia Melbourne No.1)

        5 elements to decide the rankings - Infrastructure (25%, Housing, Roads, Basic Utilities ), Heath Care (20%), Culture & Environment(20%), stability (25% - crimes & terrorism), Education (10%).

　

◆    Mercer "Quality of Living" , 2015

          Taipei's score was ranked No. 83, Tai-chung city No.99.   The factors to decide include Economic environment, Political and social environment, Socio-cultural environment, Medical/health considerations, School and education level, Public services and transport, Recreation, Consumer goods, Housing, Natural environment.

　

◆    World's best places to retire in 2015, see  http://internationalliving.com/2015/01/the-best-places-to-retire-2015/   , which includes Asian countries like Malaysia, New Zealand, Thai, Phil, Vietnam, but Taiwan is not included in there.
　

◆  MasterCard Global Destination Cities Index, '15

        the MasterCard Global Destination Cities Index reports the following cities as the top ten most popular destinations of tourism worldwide in 2015

       1.London (18.82million tourists arrivals), 2.Bankok(18.24), 3.Paris, 4.Dubai(14.26), 5.Istanbul(12.56), 6.New York City, 7.Singapore(11.88),8. Kuala Lumpur(11.12), 9.Seoul(10.35), 10. Hong Kong (8.66 million).  Taipei Times, 6-6-2015:  Taipei (6.55 million), an increase of 2.5 percent from 6.38 million last year (2014).
　

◆ 2011-2012 rank /  Country Brand Index

index/category

2011-2012  Rank  
Asia's best 1. NZ, 2 Jap, 3 Aus, 4 Sing, 5 Maldives, 6 Thai, 7 India, 8 Korea, 9 Mal, 10 Fiji, 11 Vietnam, 12 Nepal, 13 chn, 14 Indonesia, 15 Phi, 16 Laos, 17 Cambodia, 18 Bangladesh, 19 Iran, 20 Pakistan
Resort & lodging options 1 Maldives, 2 Mauritius, 3 Japan, 4 Swiss, 5 US, 6 UAE, 7 Spain, 8 Bermuda, 9 st Lucia, 10 Thai, 12 NZ, 13, Fiji
Food 1 Italy, 2France, 3 Japan, 4Spain, 5 Singapore, 6 Thailand, 7 India, 8 Brasil, 9 Malaysia, 10 Swiss, 11 Germany, 12 Vietnam, 13 Greece, 14 Australia, 15 USA
Shopping 1 US, 2 France, 3 Italy, 4 UK, 5 Japan, 6 China, 7 singapore, 8 UAE, 9 thai, 10 Germany
Attraction 1 Japan, 2 Italy, 3 France, 4 US, 5 Israel, 6 UK, 8 Egypt, 9 Spain, 10 Swiss, 11 Aus, 12 Peru, 13 India, 14 Austria, 15 S Africa
Value for Money 1 Thai, 2 US, 3 Malaysia, 4 Argen, 5 India, 6 Laos, 7 Indonesia, 8 Cam, 9 Vietnam, 10 Turkey, 11 Aus, 12 NZ, 13 Spain
Night Life 1 US, 2 UK, 3 Brasil, 4 Spain, 5 France, 6 Italy, 7 Aus, 8 Thai, 9 Argentina, 10 Germany, 11, Japan, 12 Holland, 13 Singapore, 14 Greece, 15 China
Beaches 1 Aus, 2 Brasil, 3 US, 4 Maldives, 5 Bahamas, 6 Thailand, 7 Greece, 8 Spain


◆ In 2008 Top Country Brand Index Ranking ，Japan(日本) is the only top 10 Asian country, China is the rising star in the next 5 years.

Index

2007-2008 rankings:  ( underscore for Eastern nations)

"Arts & Culture"

 France, Egypt, India, UK, Greece, Red China, Russia, Japan, Spain.
"Fine dining"  Italia, Singapore, Japan, US, UK, UAE, Malaysia, Spain, Argentina .
"Friendly locals"  Canada, New Zealand, Ireland, Thailand, Sweden, Fiji, Turkey, Arab, Austria
"Best shopping"  UAE, Singapore, Italia, Japan, France, UK, Canada, Thai, S Korea
"authenticity"  Red China, S Africa, Japan, Thai, Egypt, India, Peru, Morocco
"Ideal for business"  Red China ranks No.1,  Singapore and Japan rank top 10. 


◆     According to 2009 ECA int'l "the Best Place to Reside", Taipei ranks No.57,  Asia top 3 are Singapore, HK, Tokyo( both world No.15).  2010's rank :  Taipei No.55, Singapore is still global No. 1.

              

　

        

　
　 　

◎

●
 ◎
About Taiwan's travel & tourism

   

    

1.  Taiwanese food - restaurants in Taiwan    /  
      ●  Financial Times, 8-28-2020: Taiwan eventually eases restrictions on US pork and beef imports.  Must bear in mind you may eat beef and pork with controversial Ractopamine from 2021 on, because the cost of local meat is much more expensive. ● United Daily (Economy Daily News, Taiwan) , editorial, 1-17-2021: Taiwan imported US beef (aged 30+ months), US pig offal and pork with controversial Ractopamine since Jan. 2021, it's not safe enough for customers because (1) A new branding initiative (Taiwan pork logo) that helps customers distinguish whether shops and restaurants are using predominantly local or imported pork was officially launched, however, it's very easy for businessmen to have that logo (2) Marking "US pork" in restaurants and shops is not arbitrary for political factor. ●   83% of Taiwan's Michelin 2~3 star restaurants, and 33% of Taiwan's Michelin star restaurants, failed to pass sanitary/health inspection (kitchen things/equipment not clean, food materials on the floor, without staffs' health examination proof ) , but they passed second inspection, such as 3 star restaurant Le Palais, 2 star restaurants RAW、態芮-Tairroir、祥雲龍吟( RyuGin Taipei )、 鮨天本(Sushi Amamoto).   ref. to Liberty Times, 3-30-2020, Apple Daily 3-31-2020.  ●  CTV, 1-12-2021: 18 star-rated tourist hotel restaurants were found to be irregular/illegal in expired ingredients or other food-safety issues, including many 5 star hotels e.g., Ambassador Hotel, Regent Taipei's 晶泉丰旅、日月行館 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UapKrGPkjUM