TAIPEI: With its lush green mountains, sea, high speed trains, cable cars, amusement parks and more, Taiwan is targeting Indian families, movie industry and businesses, Taiwan's Tourism Bureau says.
Traffic between the two countries is also set to increase given India's Act East Policy and increasing Taiwanese industrial investments in India, an expert in international relations said.
"We are looking for Indian families to visit Taiwan. Travel agents have been asked to promote Taiwan as a locale for shooting movies. We are also promoting Taiwan as a destination for corporate meetings," Shuhan Pan of the International Affairs Division, Tourism Bureau of Ministry of Transportation and Communications, told IANS.
According to Pan, last year Taiwan attracted over 40,000 Indian visitors and tourists. The numbers are set to grow.
Taiwan has announced a simplified group visa policy to encourage more high-end tourist groups from countries such as India, Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam, Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos.
The group visa is free of cost for five or more persons to increase the MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions) movement to Taiwan.
Taiwan also introduced a MICE Incentive Plan for the Indian market in December 2015 with MICE-centric sample itineraries, special schemes and performances designed to attract MICE groups.
Taiwan is one of the unexplored destinations of Southeast Asia which makes it a unique offering for the adventurous Indian traveller.
According to Pan, there are different categories of hotels, ranging from one- to five-star, to suit different kinds of Indian purses.
"Taiwanese industries like electronics, auto component industries and others are interested in setting up a production base in India," an expert in international relations told IANS preferring anonymity.
He said the chip set -- the heart of mobile phones, laptops and other such devices -- were mostly made in Taiwan.
"Most Indian homes have a Taiwanese product. Furthermore, Taiwanese companies are now looking at building up their own brands instead of being a contract manufacturer for others," he added.
He said Taiwanese companies were now reserving some portion of internship vacancies for Indian students as of the 3,000 Indians in Taiwan, around 1,000 are students.