In 2018, a total of 210,000 Indonesians flew to Taiwan, but only 53,000 of them were tourists as the rest of them aimed to work there.
Fanny Low, director of the Taiwan Tourism Information Centre in Indonesia, said the number of Indonesian tourists in Taiwan was still small compared to those travelling to Malaysia or Singapore.
However, this year, Low said there has been 24 percent growth of Indonesian travellers from January to May and Taiwan plans to increase the number by 10 percent.
Targeting more Indonesian tourists, the Taiwan Tourism Information Centre in Jakarta has introduced three main programmes for travellers heading to Taiwan, namely halal-certified, medical and aesthetic and educational tourist programmes.
Mastercard-Crescent Rating recently released the Global Muslim Travel Index (GMTI) 2019 that positions Taiwan third among top non-OIC (Organisation of Islamic Cooperation) destinations for Muslim travellers.
Taiwan has over 200 halal-certified hotels and restaurants and it has built grand mosques in large cities like Taipei, Taichung and Kaohsiung. “There aren’t many mosques in Taiwan because most Taiwanese aren’t Muslims, but we have mushalla [small mosques] in every major facility like train stations and shopping malls,” said Low.
People can also download Halal.TW, an app made by Indonesian students in Taiwan, to explore halal destinations, hotels and restaurants. Available in English, Chinese and Indonesian, the app also can be found in the Apple Store.
When it comes to medical and aesthetic tourism, Taiwan has Chang Gung Memorial Hospital that offers a number of services, including medical check-up and cosmetic surgery. Chen I-Fan, the representative of the Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, said the cost of cosmetic surgery in Taiwan is reasonable. “If we compare it with [cosmetic surgery in] Korea, it can be 50 percent more affordable,” Chen said at the same event.
