Hospitality with heart
Aside from creating a Muslim-friendly environment, it is essential for Taiwan to capitalize on its reputation for hospitality. Tony Wu, director of the Kuala Lumpur Office of the Taiwan Visitors Association, is brimming with ideas on just how to introduce Taiwan to Muslim visitors. In 2013, for example, Wu arranged for 20 Muslim orphans from impoverished families to visit Taiwan. Wu says he got the idea from the Quran, which calls on Muslims to look after widows and orphans. He hoped to use the experience to build a positive impression of Taiwan’s willingness to look after the disadvantaged. It was a successful example of national diplomacy, and the children were later interviewed by Malaysia’s TV9, marking the first time that Taiwan’s tourism efforts were broadcast to a predominantly Muslim audience.
In 2016 Wu visited Abdullah Mahmud, a Malaysian religious leader, and learned that Muslim tourists were particularly interested in nature and herbal products and placed great emphasis on family life. This made him realize that Taiwan could market current tourism trends such as leisure farms, theme parks, and hands-on activities.
Wu also organized a press tour of Taiwan to promote the island’s tourism efforts to the Malaysian media. Among those taking part were the Malaysian celebrity Maria and the famous radio host Raifa. During their tour Maria, who is followed by more than 700,000 fans on Instagram, shared video clips of her experiences sampling Taiwanese delicacies, soaking in a hot spring and visiting the National Palace Museum, using the power of social media to promote Taiwan as a fun destination.
Wu is overflowing with good ideas. “On recent trips to Eastern Malaysia, I discovered that people there shared many similarities with Taiwan’s Aborigines, quite possibly because they are both Austronesian peoples. Taiwan’s Aboriginal culture could be another appealing aspect for us to highlight in our efforts to encourage tourist visits from Malaysia,” he says with enthusiasm.
In the past five years, Malaysian tourist visits to Taiwan increased by more than 50%, from 300,000 in 2011 to 470,000 in 2016.
In the 2015 MasterCard‡CrescentRating Global Muslim Travel Index, Taiwan ranked tenth among non-member countries of the Organization for Islamic Cooperation in terms of meeting the needs of Muslim travelers, and in 2016 the island jumped three places to number seven. “Next year we will move even higher up the rankings,” Wu says with confidence.
The products of Herdsman Enterprises are sold in more than 30 countries worldwide. Caleb Tang believes that localization is the key to success in the global marketplace.