Business events make a comeback in Taiwan

Taiwan has eased its border controls

Taiwan is seeing a strong demand for business events after restrictions on domestic meetings were lifted on June 11, with more than 50 events scheduled to take place from now until end-July.

These events will, however, have to abide by strict guidelines set by the authorities to ensure the health and safety of delegates.

Taiwan has eased its border controls and is well on the road to recovery; Taipei pictured

Walter Yeh, president of Asian Federation of Exhibition & Convention Associations (AFECA) and president and CEO of Taiwan External Trade Development Council, shared that Covid-19 is well under control in Taiwan, with 447 confirmed cases and seven reported deaths altogether, as of July 3.

Yeh was speaking at a webinar organised by AFECA last Friday, where he shared updates on Taiwan’s business events industry.

During the webinar, Yeh also talked about trends in Taiwan’s exhibitions industry, such as the rising popularity of virtual reality (VR) exhibitions. Such exhibitions, he said, provided a fresh way for buyers to experience and view samples online.

He added: “Online matchmaking meetings are also proving to be more crucial than ever for trade business personnel, with the (absence) of face-to-face meetings.”

Yeh stressed that organising virtual events will not be “supplementary”, but a “necessity in the post-pandemic era”, which will result in more hybrid events.

Meanwhile, the Taiwanese government’s ongoing efforts to gradually ease border restrictions are working in favour of the business events industry.

Since June 22, the government has allowed foreign business travellers intending to visit Taiwan for less than three months to apply for shortened home quarantine period, provided they meet the conditions set by The Central Epidemic Command Center. One of the requirements was that these travellers must arrive from low- or medium-risk countries/regions and they must have no travel history to other countries in the last 14 days before boarding the flight to Taiwan.

More recently, since June 29, foreigners may apply for entry permits to Taiwan for reasons other than tourism and social visits.

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