TAIWAN: Kaohsiung Seeks More Flight Routes To China So As To Boost Tourism

Kaohsiung is hoping to add more flight routes connecting it with cities in northern China, including Shenyang and Harbin, to boost tourism, Kaohsiung Tourism Bureau Director Hsu Chuan-sheng said Sunday.

There are currently 25 flights per week between Kaohsiung and China, and Hsu said China Airlines (CAL), Taiwan's largest carrier, will launch nonstop flights between Kaohsiung and Changzhou in Jiangsu province on Sept. 16 to draw more tourists from eastern China.

Given Kaohsiung's warm and sunny weather during the winter, the city is now targeting tourists from cold regions in China by trying to set up flight services between Kaohsiung and these colder areas, such as Shenyang and Harbin in northeastern China, Hsu said.

Meanwhile, because Japanese tourist arrivals to Kaohsiung have fallen this year due to the weak Japanese yen, the city wants to offset the decline by attracting tourists from Southeast Asia, and new flight links between the city and Kuala Lumpur are helping, Hsu said.

Kaohsiung remains focused on Japan as well, however, converting charter flights between Kaohsiung and Kumamoto to regularly scheduled flights and now pushing for the addition of flights connecting Kaohsiung and Nagoya, Hsu said.

According to the bureau's statistics, 2.6 million Chinese tourists visited Kaohsiung last year. The number is expected to exceed 3 million this year, Hsu said.