BTB in Taipei Intl’ Travel Fair

The Belize Tourism Board was invited by the Embassy of Belize and CATO in Taiwan to attend TAIPEI’S INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL FAIR (ITF). Taipei International Travel Fair is the biggest and the most important travel and tourism industry fair in Asia. It is the best place to maximize the efficiency of travel mart by having broad information on several destinations and schemes.

2009 Taipei International Travel Fair (ITF) took the Stage from Friday, October 30 to Monday, November 2, 2009 with Exhibitors from 58 Countries and Regions occupying 1,206 Booths in Total. The venue was Tapei’s World Trade Center TWTC. It was attended by a total of 210,752 visitors.

Belize showcased its Reef, rainforest and ruins on a beautiful back drop with the theme “BE ONE WITH BELIZE”. At the same time a video was shown with closed caption in Mandarin. We had Tourists offices, travel agents, wholesalers, government officials, transport operators and travel publishers visit our booth.

BTB also had the opportunity to meet with the Director of Tourism Mr. Kwang-Shoung Chao. A conversation with the Director of Tourism made him aware of the attractions that Belize has to offer. He was amazed at Belize’s beaches, history and culture. He said “I want to go live in Belize”

During the travel mart days both Charge D’ Affaires Mr. Efrain Novelo and Mrs. Amy Leiva, San Pedro BTB Representative, were interviewed by the China Post and U Paper, two of the most widely read newspapers and Channel 52 and Next Magazine, two of Taiwan's major media outlets.

On Saturday, October 31, Mrs. Amy Leiva had the privilege of doing the product presentation, where she promoted Belize to international travel agents and wholesalers. BTB’s promotional video “Be one with Belize” was enjoyed and captured everyone’s attention as it was translated in mandarin language. BTB representatives were overwhelmed by the attendance. Each wholesaler/travel agent were presented with a BTB bag containing promotional materials, all translated in Mandarin. Mr. Novelo also provided t-shirts, caps, and gift bags compliments of the Embassy of Belize.

The trip was not all work related, Mrs. Leiva and Mr. Novelo also had time to enjoy the attractions that Taipei has to offer, they traveled to Yilan where they visited the King Car Group (Yuan-Shan Plant) the company produces Coffee, Tea, Water and whisky. They also visited the National Center for Traditional Arts, Chihlee Institute of Technology, National Chian Kai-shek Memorial Hall, Longshan Temple, National Palace Museum and Martyrs Shrine.

Mrs. Leiva is very grateful to Charge D’ Affaires Mr. Efrain Novelo ,his family and Ms. Ivy Lu of the Embassy of Belize, Mr. Marti Chang and Ms. Allison of CATO.