The ITF Taiwan International Travel Fair will be held at Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center Hall 1 from November 6 to 9. The organizer, the Taiwan Tourism Association, has announced a visitation target of 400,000 people. Industry operators admitted that due to the impact of the war in the Middle East, group fares have indeed increased slightly. However, it has been observed that consumers have shown "K-shaped consumption" in recent years. In addition to paying attention to lower-priced tour groups, they will also choose "high unit price themed in-depth tours". It is expected that the travel show can drive purchasing sentiment.
The ITF Travel Show held a promotional event today. This year, the ITF ushered in the 40th anniversary milestone. It was upgraded from the "Taipei International Travel Show" to the "Taiwan International Travel Show", with the theme of "World Travelers, Starting in Taiwan". It brought together exhibitors such as tourism bureaus, airlines, central and local governments, travel agencies, star-rated hotels and popular theme parks from 123 countries and cities. The number of booths reached 1,600, offering a variety of options such as luxury vacations, in-depth theme tours, free travel and group itineraries.
Chien Yu-yan, president of the Taiwan Tourism Association, the organizer, said that Taiwan is embarking on a "cultural renaissance of international travel." According to statistics, the current average number of Chinese people traveling internationally is as high as 11.65 times a year, with a total of more than 200 million trips throughout the year, creating an output value of more than 564 billion yuan. Compared with 6 times a year when the high-speed rail was opened 20 years ago and less than 4 times 30 years ago, Taiwan's international travel is reaching a new peak. Last year, the International Travel Fair attracted more than 360,000 visitors. This year, the number of early bird ticket pre-orders increased by more than 10% compared with last year. The number of visitors is expected to grow significantly this year, reaching the target of 400,000 visitors.
Ye Julan, chairman of the ITF Preparatory Committee, said that Taiwan has a population of only 23 million. In 2025, there will be 18.95 million overseas trips, and the number of international tourists will exceed 200 million. Outbound tourism is one of the world's 20 largest tourist destinations. She emphasized that "as long as international tourism does well, international tourists will do well." Government ministries are promoting tourism in the spirit of "mainstreaming tourism." The ITF also continues to expand tourism trading platforms, assist domestic and foreign industry matchmakers, and invite the public to enjoy the charm of diverse tourism.
Lin Guanxian, deputy general manager of Coca-Cola Tourism Marketing Department, said that there are two main trends among consumers. One of them is price sensitivity. Therefore, the travel exhibition also offers Korean products starting from NT$8,499, and New Zealand and Australia starting from NT$39,888 for 7 days. In addition, more and more consumers are choosing "themed travel", such as ski tours, gassho village winter lighting activities, Nordic aurora tours, and even healing itineraries such as Spanish pilgrimage tours and yoga, body and soul tours in India and Nepal.
Lin Guanxian also admitted that due to the impact of the war in the Middle East, the increase in fuel surcharges has indeed been reflected in the price of group fares. The increase in short-haul routes ranges from 1,000 to 3,000 yuan, and the increase in long-haul and European routes ranges from 1,000 to 5,000 yuan. Therefore, travel agencies will also package more diversified experience itineraries to give consumers different experiences. Therefore, preferential prices will also be provided at the travel fair, ranging from short-haul to long-haul routes. Compared with the official website price, there is a discount of about 1,000 yuan to 10,000 yuan.
Shan Wei, general manager of Lion Travel Public Relations Department, also pointed out that due to the impact of the war in the Middle East, fuel surcharges have increased, which is reflected in some group fares. Among them, the price of group fares for next year's winter vacation and Spring Festival has remained the same, but some short-haul fares have increased by 5 to 8%.
Shanfeng has also observed that consumers are showing a "K-shaped consumption" trend, and some people will go to the scene to grab bargains. Therefore, this travel show has launched winter holiday parent-child discounts, such as discounts of 10,000 yuan for the second child. In addition, some consumers prefer purpose-based exquisite travel experiences, so for the first time, high unit price products are offered in Hokkaido, such as New Year icebreakers, ice fishing and other special itineraries.
Jiang Jianxun, deputy general manager of Yifei.com's long-haul line, said that due to the increase in fuel surcharges, today's ITF travel exhibition group fares are expected to increase by 15 to 20% compared with last year. Among them, short-haul lines are expected to have lower order volume due to the increase in fuel surcharges. The decline is not large; in contrast, the long-distance line will be more obvious. After communicating with peers, long-distance orders of various companies have declined by 10 to 30% on average. As for Yifei.com, due to the launch of river cruise, Aurora, and deep itineraries, the order volume has increased by 40% compared with last year.
