The Taipei International Travel Fair is just 2 months away – now recruiting citizen journalists

Reported by You T-Ru / Comprehensive report

The Taipei International Travel Fair will be held from October 18 to 21, and this year the scale has expanded even further. For the first time, a “Homestay & Gourmet Theme Area” has been added on the second floor of Hall 1 of the Taipei World Trade Center, featuring 1,350 booths. Organized by the Tourism Bureau of Taiwan (a semi-official organization), the event aims to encourage young people to broaden their international perspectives through the 8th ITF Citizen Journalist Selection Program. Applications are open until September 1, with plans to select 20 citizen journalists. In addition to receiving a journalist ID badge and being invited to press conferences and on-site interviews at the fair, selected participants may also have opportunities to cover stories both domestically and abroad.


▲ The travel fair will take place from October 18 to 21. (Photo / File photo)

Entering its 27th year, the Taipei International Travel Fair attracted 262,590 visitors over its four-day run in 2012, with on-site travel product transactions exceeding NT$1.5 billion. This year’s ITF Travel Fair has expanded once again in response to the needs of tourism industry players. Approximately 60 countries and nearly 1,000 domestic and international travel organizations will participate, including first-time exhibitors from Argentina, Chile, Egypt, and Seychelles. A new “Homestay & Gourmet Theme Area” has been set up in Zone H on the second floor of Hall 1 of the Taipei World Trade Center. As a result, the total number of booths has grown from 1,200 to 1,350. Travel enthusiasts interested in homestays and exploring destinations at home and abroad should seize the opportunity to visit the Taipei World Trade Center from October 18 to 21.

Additionally, the Taipei International Travel Fair’s program of selecting active travel bloggers as citizen journalists has reached its 8th edition. Applications for this year’s selection will be accepted from early August until September 1, through a joint effort by major blogging platforms including Wretch, udn Blog, PC home Personal News, Sina Blog, Xuite Blog, Yahoo Blog, and Yam Blog. Bloggers from other platforms can also sign up via the Shine Media event website. Two citizen journalists will be chosen from each platform. In addition, the organizers will select 3 to 5 veteran travel bloggers from among past citizen journalists, bringing the total number of selected fair citizen journalists to 20. The final list will be announced on September 13 on the official Taipei International Travel Fair website, blog, and Facebook page. The term of office will last one year, until the end of September 2014.