(From left) Hsu, Tseng, Paw, Chou, Dr Yen, Yasmin Hani, Goh, Tang, Peng and Poon at the launch in LaLaport Bukit Bintang City Centre, Kuala Lumpur.
200 themed cars roaming around Klang Valley under campaign
If you’ve been on the road much in the last few weeks, you might have caught a glimpse of a Taiwan-themed vehicle travelling within the Klang Valley.
As part of a three-month campaign to attract more Malaysian visitors to Taiwan, 200 specially designed OhBear Cars promoting what the country has to offer are roaming city streets.
Taiwan Tourism Administra-tion Kuala Lumpur office director Abe Chou said the campaign aimed to encouraged Malaysians to choose Taiwan as their priority travel destination in 2024.
Local artist Stanley Goh was commissioned to come up with the designs on the cars.
Goh, who is also Malaysia Art Education Association president, hoped that his thematic designs reflected the vibrant and fun-filled experiences available in Taiwan.
His designs cover three aspects of travelling in Taiwan — “Railway Tourism”, “Taiwan’s Hot Springs” and “Muslim-friendly”.
“Railway Tourism” shows Taiwan’s traditional blue train, colourful hot air balloons and golden daylily flowers in Hualien, representing the possibilities the country’s eastern side provides.
“Taiwan’s Hot Springs” promotes the country’s springtime charm with its hot springs and cherry blossoms while “Muslim-friendly” focuses on the lantern experience along with features such as the Pingxi Line Railway and Houtong Cat Village.
Some 200 Taiwan OhBear Cars are roaming the streets of Kuala Lumpur.
Goh said it was his first time creating artwork on car bodies and it took a lot of time to design the Taiwan OhBear Cars.
Malaysian Taipei Economic and Cultural Office deputy head Dr Joy Yen said Malaysia was an important source of inbound tourists for Taiwan.
From January to August this year, the number of Malaysian tourists visiting Taiwan exceeded 250,000.
In addition, the Taiwan Tourism Administration Kuala Lumpur office is running a “Taiwan the Lucky Land” campaign, which offers international travellers a chance to win a prize worth NT$5,000 (RM800).
To stand a chance of winning round-trip air tickets to Taiwan, participants need only to take photos of the Taiwan OhBear Cars on the road and upload them to their Facebook or Instagram accounts.
According to the Mastercard 2023 Global Muslim Travel Index, Taiwan ranks third on the list of non-Organisation of Islamic Cooperation destinations for Muslims.
Currently, Taiwan has nearly 300 restaurants and hotels with halal certification.
The campaign launch was held at LaLaport Bukit Bintang City Centre in Kuala Lumpur.
Also present at the launch were StarLux Airlines general manager Hsu Chien-wen, Eva Airlines general manager Jack Tseng, Malaysian Chinese Tourism Association president Paul Paw, TV host Yasmin Hani Richardson, China Airlines general manager James Tang, Taiwan Trade Centre director Eva Peng and Malaysia Chinese Assembly Hall vice-president Datuk Ada Poon.
