Taiwan has brought its latest tourism pitch to the ANZ trade the old-fashioned way: face-to-face, hand-to-hand, and with enough food talk to make a night market blush.
The Taiwan Tourism Administration, or TTA, has wrapped a three-city roadshow across Sydney, Melbourne and Auckland. Its “Taiwan, Never Sleeps” campaign met more than 225 travel trade guests from 17 to 25 June. Airlines, hotels, agents, cultural groups and media all had a seat at the table. That is how the tourism business has always been done. First, the handshake. Then the brochure. Then, with luck, the booking.
The timing is useful. Australia sent 125,288 visitors to Taiwan in 2025, up 11.32 per cent year on year. Leisure travel rose even faster, up 16.63 per cent. New Zealand sent 18,242 visitors, up 6.97 per cent, with leisure travel up 10.4 per cent. With 21 direct flights a week to and from Australia and New Zealand, Taiwan is no longer a “we should look at that one day” option. It is ready for the shelf.
The roadshows sat under Taiwan Tourism Brand 3.0, “TAIWAN – Waves of Wonder”. The brand was launched in 2024 to show Taiwan as a year-round place of nature, culture and layered discovery. In trade terms, that means more than pretty pictures. It means product.
And Taiwan has a product in generous supply. There is breakfast culture, morning markets, Michelin-recognised dining, famous night-market snacks, and city nightlife. There are also hot springs, temple towns, cycle routes, mountain views and a Pacific coast that does not need to shout. It simply waits there, looking splendid.
For agents and wholesalers, the message was clear. Taiwan is not selling itself as a one-note stopover. It is selling the full orchestra. Taipei brings the urban beat. Regional Taiwan brings nature, craft, food and story. The result is a destination with enough range for families, couples, food lovers, active travellers and repeat Asia clients who think they have seen it all.
The business sessions did the heavy lifting. Each event included one-on-one meetings before the evening program. Australian and New Zealand product managers met Taiwanese suppliers directly. The focus was on new itineraries, themed programs and stronger distribution. Warm applause is nice. Bookable product pays the bills.
The cultural side gave the roadshow its charm. Performing group Mooz played the Yueqin, or moon lute. Paper artist Hung Hsin-Fu turned Taiwan’s biodiversity into fine ecological origami. Guests also painted tiles at SanHe Tile Kiln, a century-old heritage site, and made floral fabric sky lanterns. It was hands-on, colourful and blessedly short on conference-room beige.
“The roadshow reinforced the strength of our partnerships across Australia and New Zealand and created meaningful new opportunities for product development and distribution. Taiwan’s combination of safety, accessibility, culinary depth and natural spectacle continues to resonate strongly with travellers from both markets, and we look forward to welcoming even more visitors in the year ahead.”
– Taiwan Tourism Administration
The trade lesson is plain. Taiwan has the flights, food, safety, scenery and cultural depth to win more Australian and New Zealand travellers. It also has a campaign with a neat promise: this is an island that does not clock off early.
For planning and travel ideas, trade partners and travellers can use the official Taiwan Tourism Administration website.
By: Sandra Jones – © 2026.
Read Time: 3 minutes.
Author Bio:
Sandra has spent a working lifetime quietly rescuing journeys, one itinerary, one anxious caller, one impossible connection at a time. Years in Australia’s finest travel agencies taught her the art of calm, how to find a flight in a fog of cancellations, how to soothe a traveller when luggage wanders, how to turn nine frantic days in Europe into something resembling sense. Qualified, seasoned, endlessly patient, she learned that good travel advice is part logistics, part listening.
But the storyteller in her was always waiting for her turn. Writing offered a new map, a way to turn experience into reflection, detail into delight. At Global Travel Media, Sandra now writes the truths only insiders know: the mishaps, the laughter, the grace found between gates and goodbyes. She reminds us that travel, for all its fuss, is still one of life’s better ideas.
