Liaison Office of South Africa
in Taiwan
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Suite 1301, 13th FL., 205 Tun Hwa North Rd., Taipei 105, Taiwan
Tel: (02) 2715-3251/4 Fax: (02) 2712-5109
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Liaison Office of South Africa
in Taiwan
¡@ Suite 1301, 13th FL., 205 Tun Hwa North Rd., Taipei 105, Taiwan Tel: (02) 2715-3251/4 Fax: (02) 2712-5109 ¡@ |
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¡@ ¡@ ¡@ ¡@ ¡@ ¡@ ¡@ ¡@ ¡@ ¡@ ¡@ ¡@ ¡@ ¡@ ¡@ ¡@ ¡@ ¡@ ¡@ ¡@ ¡@ ¡@ ¡@ ¡@ ¡@ Travelling to South Africa? ¡@ ¡@ ¡@ Please visit the following websites for great packages: ¡@ ¡@ ¡@ ¡@ ¡@ ¡@ ¡@ ¡@ ¡@ ¡@ ¡@ ¡@ |
Tourism |
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¡@ At the southern tip of the great and mysterious African continent lies a land of breathtaking splendour, where the fertile soils are laced with diamonds and gold, uninterrupted plains teem with wildlife, and nature¡¦s bounty continues to brim over into the everyday lives of its many peoples. This is South Africa.
This is the land we suggest you should visit.
Covering an area of 1,3 million km² (34 times the size of Taiwan), South Africa is home to 43 million people who speak eleven distinctly different languages ¡V all of them official languages protected by the Constitution. South Africa is a nation blessed not only with an extraordinary cultural diversity, but also with an unsurpassed natural heritage that spans from the rugged coast of the Cape, through the serene wine lands, the arid Karoo to the majestic Drakensberg to the great expanse of the Kruger National Park. Our coastline extends over nearly 2 800 km ¡V sun-drenched beaches with clean, unpolluted water stretching from here to Hong Kong and back!
Nineteen vast game parks are interspersed across the land, from the Kruger Park in the north-east, to the Kalahari Gemsbok Park in the north-west, to the Hluhluwe Game Reserve in the east and the Addo Elephant Park in the south. The Kruger Park alone has 336 tree species, 49 fish, 34 amphibian, 114 reptile, 507 bird and 147 mammal species. And then, there are the Big Five!
We can proudly present four world heritage sites, which are protected by the United Nations, making them the property of you and me and all the citizens of the entire globe. These are the St Lucia wetlands, home to the largest mangrove swamps and the greatest variety of amphibian, fish and seabird life known to man; the Sterkfontein caves, which have been called the cradle of humanity; the San paintings of the Drakensberg, where you can view, still in their original form, the remarkable artistic creations of a people that has all but become extinct; and Robben Island, where the world¡¦s most famous political prisoner, Nelson Mandela, was incarcerated together with his most loyal lieutenants for two decades.
There are so many beautiful and fascinating countries in this world of ours. What makes South Africa unique among them is precisely its diversity ¡V in landscapes, animal life and in cultures. Hence our national motto reads: ¡§Strength in diversity¡¨. The land is so many things to South Africans: to the San it is the desert land of the Kalahari; to the Xhosa it is the rolling hill country of Transkei; to the farmer it could be the vast plain of the Highveld stretching away to the lofty peaks of the Drakensberg; to the young adventurer it could be the glittering lure of its modern cities or the intoxicating vibrancy of Sun City ¡V the gambler¡¦s paradise; to the nature-lover, it is the land where, with the first spring rains, the desert explodes into colour.
In May last year, the World Travel & Tourism Council, from its Headquarters in London, published its findings of a survey it had conducted on the most desirable tourist destinations on the globe. For its variety, service and infrastructure, and value for money, South Africa came out top. Those of you who watch the Discovery Channel on TV may well have seen only a few months ago that this channel rates South Africa as one of the three prime tourist destinations in the world.
Over the past months, South Africa and a number of its many world-class tourism products have received influential global acclaim from readers of the prestigious Conde Nast Traveller magazine ¡V the biggest travel magazine in the US - and viewers of the highly popular BBC travel programme, ¡¥Holidays¡¦.
The BBC¡¦s ¡¥Holidays¡¦ programme placed Cape Town fifth in its definitive rundown of top destinations. Cape Town was the only city to be named in the top five ¡¥Places to See¡¦, no mean achievement considering it pipped such tourist-favoured cities as Sydney, New York, Venice and Paris ¡V not to mention attractions like the Taj Mahal, the Pyramids and Ayers Rock! (1: Grand Canyon; 2: Great Barrier Reef, Australia; 3: Walt Disney World, Florida)
South Africa has become the world¡¦s hottest destination. In 2002, 6,4 million tourists from all over the world flocked to this Land of Opportunity to enjoy its warmth and friendliness. While the global industry reflected ¡§flat¡¨ or decreased growth last year, South Africa recorded a bumper year with overseas arrivals up by a massive 20,1%. Visitors from Asia increased by 20,7%; every month, more than a thousand citizens of Taiwan walk up the gangplanks of airliners destined for Johannesburg to share in the delights of this unique land that I am telling you about. Every month, a thousand citizens of this island return to Taiwan with the firm undertaking that this was only one of many more visits to the land that knows no earthquakes, no typhoons.
Whether you want to stride through the grandiose shopping malls of Cape Town, Johannesburg, Pretoria or Durban; whether you delight in viewing the dance of the antelope, the fish eagle in flight, hearing the awesome roar of the lion or witnessing the exhilarating hunt of the cheetah; or whether you are intoxicated by the elegant glitter of diamond necklaces and gold bracelets; or whether you derive fun and relaxation on the luscious greens of a golf course; of this you have my assurance: you will not find a place in this world where you can enjoy all of these within the space of one week for a price that will make you call out for more. For instance, it will cost you NT 590 for an 18 hole game of golf at the most exclusive golf club in Pretoria ¡V and this includes a caddie and a golf cart. South Africa offers you unsurpassed value for money.
Visitors from Taiwan are not barred from South Africa, neither are they subject to screening because of SARS when they board a South African Airways airliner.
Let South African Airways fly you south to smell the aromas of space, to see the rainbow of peace, to taste the nectar of tranquillity, to hear the symphony of liberty, and to feel the rhythm of the African Renaissance. ¡@ More than 1,000 Taiwanese citizens obtain visas to visit South Africa each month. The majority of these visitors go for holiday and business purposes.
South Africa received a total of 5.9 million tourists in 2000. These visitors allow South Africa's travel industry to employ over 700,000 people both directly and indirectly which comprises over 7% of the country's workforce. In 1998, it was estimated that the tourism industry contributed around 6% to South Africa's GDP. These figures indicate how South Africa is fast becoming a favoured travel destination which is attributed to the country's unparalleled scenic and wildlife attractions as well as its rich cultural and historical sites, truly A World in One Country. ¡@
Refer to the following websites for further information on tourism in South
Africa: South African Conference Venues Tourism Business Council of South Africa Travel Resources on South Africa Allexperts South Africa Travel Q&A A Visitors Guide to South Africa Touring Grading Council of South Africa Southern African Association of Tourism Professionals Southern African Tourism Service Association Great African Outdoors (Guided Motorcycle Tours and Motorbiking Events in Southern Africa) ¡@ ¡@ |
South Africa citizens residing in Taiwan - why is it necessary to register at our offices ?
Schools, universities and other academic institutions who wish to request an informational briefing,
Members of the travel industry who wish to request an audio -visual presentation on South African tourism, please enter here.
