Taitung Green Tour
The beauty of Huatung silently moves one’s heart. It is a place where one feels safe, tranquil, and free…a place to pursue one’s dreams.
With the rising standard of living in Taiwan and a growing awareness of environmental protection, the Hualien-Taitung “Huatung” region located in the mountainous eastern part of Taiwan has become the choice destination for experiential tour. Huatung is known for its unsurpassed natural beauty and lack of accessibility. The region is populated by aborigine tribes with rich cultural traditions. It has also become the residence for many accomplished Taiwanese and aborigine artists who are attracted by the abundantly available natural materials. One’s travel to the region is further enhanced by many unique experiences such as paragliding off Lu-Yeh Plateau, strolling through the peaceful farm village of Long-tian, catching a breathtaking view of the sea of rice paddies in Ci-shang, etc.
In 2010, The Alliance Cultural Foundation (ACF) began to organize Huatung experiential tours for company holiday trips. In 2011, ACF also brought many influential Taiwanese and international visitors to Huatung. These visitors included foreign diplomats, ministry of tourism officials, entrepreneurs/corporate heads, renowned artists, gourmet chefs, and travel writers. By the end of 2013, ACF had introduced more than 6000 visitors to Huatung. In 2014, the rail service from Taipei to Taitung is expected to be electrified which will reduce the travel time to 3 ½ hours. Visitors to Taitung are expected to increase significantly.
After having worked closely with Huatung aborigines during the past two years, ACF has observed that most aborigine families rely on farming for livelihood. Unfortunately farming often does not bring adequate income to these families. As a result, many young people are forced to leave their villages and seek menial work in cities on the more developed western part of Taiwan. Children are left in the care of grandparents. The dislocation of the family unit combined with poor quality education have created a generation of relatively uneducated and unskilled young people with low self-confidence and lack of employment prospects which further perpetuates the cycle of poverty among the aborigine population.
ACF’s mission is to create meaningful employment opportunities for aborigine people in Huatung so that they do not have to leave their homes, thereby preserving the family unit while contributing to Huatung’s economic development. ACF has undertaken to develop experiential tourism in Huatung. It is helping the various aborigine tribes to promote customs and cultural practices that are unique to their tribe. At the same time, ACF is also building a market for experiential tourism, mostly through past visitors’ experiencing-sharing with prospective visitors. ACF not only teaches the aborigine people “how to fish”, but also” gathers the fish” so that the aborigine people can gain confidence through successful learning experiences.
In 2013, with Huatung’s tourism and its industries maturing, ACF creates a business model for experiential tourism in Huatung. ACF aims to share its model with travel agencies (Dollar Travel, Yes Trip, Nanya Travel, etc.), in hopes to involve more people to create a larger positive impact on Huatung’s tourism, while also creating more business for the agencies. In the future, ACF aims to extend its influence to eventually attract international markets, such as expatriate communities residing in Taiwan, China, Hong Kong, and Macau.
ACF is grateful to all the visitors who have taken the Huatung experiential tours. Although, the aborigine hosts are still learning to be more professional in their new endeavor as tour providers, visitors’ support and encouragement of their hosts will help them to become self-sufficient but also allow them to participate in the economic recovery of their home villages.
Through Huatung experiential tours, ACF hopes to galvanize resources from all those who share its mission to preserve the last “paradise” on Taiwan.
With the rising standard of living in Taiwan and a growing awareness of environmental protection, the Hualien-Taitung “Huatung” region located in the mountainous eastern part of Taiwan has become the choice destination for experiential tour. Huatung is known for its unsurpassed natural beauty and lack of accessibility. The region is populated by aborigine tribes with rich cultural traditions. It has also become the residence for many accomplished Taiwanese and aborigine artists who are attracted by the abundantly available natural materials. One’s travel to the region is further enhanced by many unique experiences such as paragliding off Lu-Yeh Plateau, strolling through the peaceful farm village of Long-tian, catching a breathtaking view of the sea of rice paddies in Ci-shang, etc.
In 2010, The Alliance Cultural Foundation (ACF) began to organize Huatung experiential tours for company holiday trips. In 2011, ACF also brought many influential Taiwanese and international visitors to Huatung. These visitors included foreign diplomats, ministry of tourism officials, entrepreneurs/corporate heads, renowned artists, gourmet chefs, and travel writers. By the end of 2013, ACF had introduced more than 6000 visitors to Huatung. In 2014, the rail service from Taipei to Taitung is expected to be electrified which will reduce the travel time to 3 ½ hours. Visitors to Taitung are expected to increase significantly.
After having worked closely with Huatung aborigines during the past two years, ACF has observed that most aborigine families rely on farming for livelihood. Unfortunately farming often does not bring adequate income to these families. As a result, many young people are forced to leave their villages and seek menial work in cities on the more developed western part of Taiwan. Children are left in the care of grandparents. The dislocation of the family unit combined with poor quality education have created a generation of relatively uneducated and unskilled young people with low self-confidence and lack of employment prospects which further perpetuates the cycle of poverty among the aborigine population.
ACF’s mission is to create meaningful employment opportunities for aborigine people in Huatung so that they do not have to leave their homes, thereby preserving the family unit while contributing to Huatung’s economic development. ACF has undertaken to develop experiential tourism in Huatung. It is helping the various aborigine tribes to promote customs and cultural practices that are unique to their tribe. At the same time, ACF is also building a market for experiential tourism, mostly through past visitors’ experiencing-sharing with prospective visitors. ACF not only teaches the aborigine people “how to fish”, but also” gathers the fish” so that the aborigine people can gain confidence through successful learning experiences.
In 2013, with Huatung’s tourism and its industries maturing, ACF creates a business model for experiential tourism in Huatung. ACF aims to share its model with travel agencies (Dollar Travel, Yes Trip, Nanya Travel, etc.), in hopes to involve more people to create a larger positive impact on Huatung’s tourism, while also creating more business for the agencies. In the future, ACF aims to extend its influence to eventually attract international markets, such as expatriate communities residing in Taiwan, China, Hong Kong, and Macau.
ACF is grateful to all the visitors who have taken the Huatung experiential tours. Although, the aborigine hosts are still learning to be more professional in their new endeavor as tour providers, visitors’ support and encouragement of their hosts will help them to become self-sufficient but also allow them to participate in the economic recovery of their home villages.
Through Huatung experiential tours, ACF hopes to galvanize resources from all those who share its mission to preserve the last “paradise” on Taiwan.
