TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – The Tourism Administration is preparing to open its first service center for Canada in Vancouver while focusing on the business leisure market, reports said Saturday (Aug. 24).
Vancouver’s location as the Canadian city closest to Asia and its diverse population were factors in the planning of a Taiwan Tourism Information Center (TTIC), per CNA. In addition, the city’s role as a center for trade and technology would facilitate the promotion of “bleisure,” or “business leisure,” according to officials.
Canadians value the principle of work-life balance, so they would be susceptible to mixing business travel to Taiwan with room for personal leisure, said the Tourism Administration representative in San Francisco, Sylvia Lee (李思賢). She flew to Vancouver Thursday (Aug. 22) to research the environment for the information center.
According to Lee, travelers from Canada were interested in nature, activities, cycling, or even running marathons. In 2023, Taiwan welcomed 126,000 visitors from Canada, or 90% of the annual amount before the COVID-19 pandemic.
Lee predicted an increase of 28.5% for 2024, a faster rise than for visitors from the United States or several Asian countries.