When travel agents talk about the difficulty of attracting tourists to Taiwan, their second most common complaint—after high prices—is that the island has nothing new to offer the international traveler. The complaint is valid, and not just for foreigners; local residents also have few recreational activities or scenic areas to choose from to fill their leisure time.
Recognizing this need, the Tourism Bureau, about ten years ago, initiated the concept of the national scenic area. At the time, some observers questioned the advisability of an agency at the central government level undertaking the development of such areas, seemingly in competition with the national park administration. But national parks and national scenic areas serve different purposes. While Taiwan's five national parks have some provisions for recreation and sight seeing, the emphasis is often on nature preservation, to the detriment of tourism.
In contrast, the Tourism Bureau's objective in the development of national scenic areas is to make optimal use of the natural environment for leisure activities while protecting it from excessive damage. The idea is to achieve a healthy balance between enlightened development and preservation. "In comparison with national parks, national scenic areas allow for more development of visitor facilities, especially accommodations and recreational amenities, which are severely lacking in the countryside," says Hunter H.T. Eu (游漢廷), deputy director-general of the Tourism Bureau. "The development of national scenic areas is vital to the growth of our international tourism and to domestic recreation as well."
A good way to forget the pace of urban life—The Tourism Bureau initiated the concept of national scenic areas to make optimal use of the natural environment for leisure activities while protecting it from excessive damage.
The first of the island's national scenic areas was established on the northeast coast in 1984. The second was set up on the east coast and the third, which is currently operating as a preparatory office, in the Penghu Islands. All three are located in coastal areas and emphasize seashore scenery and activities. In the future, Eu says, "It will be a good idea to create national scenic areas at higher elevations, in the forested mountain landscapes that we find here in such abundance."
The experience of the first such site, the Northeast Coast National Scenic Area, proves that the concept is sound. The area stretches about sixty-five kilometers along the mountain-lined coast, starting just south of the historical port city of Keelung and running south ward almost to the hot-spring spa of Chiaohsi in Han county. Including both land and sea areas, it covers 13,145 hectares. Currently at the peak of its development, with a budget of more than NT$500 million (US$19 million) for the fiscal year that ended in June, the northeast coast now draws an estimated 4 million tourists a year.
From the beginning, the aim was to take advantage of the area's impressive scenic beauty, geological formations, and local culture, and to build on these attractions by providing planning and development at international standards. The success of the area shows that the government is capable of doing something right in the area of tourism development, and that the Tourism Bureau can offer travelers, local residents and foreign visitors alike, first-class leisure experiences.
Visitors to the northeast coast can choose to sit and watch the surf or engage in such strenuous and exacting activities as rock climbing or scuba diving. One of Taiwan's finest beaches is located at Fulung, roughly in the middle of the area (it is operated not by the Tourism Bureau but by the provincial Taiwan Tourism Administration). Just north of Fulung is Yenliao Seaside Park, which is under the scenic area administration. Although its beach is not as good as the one at Fulung, it boasts much better facilities.
Waiting for the sun and a tougher anti-litter law at Fulung beach—Most leisure sites, including this one operated by the Taiwan Tourism Administration, are being marred by thoughtless visitors.
Other activities in the scenic area include swimming, surfing, wind surfing, bicycling, boating (on a small scale so far, but soon to be improved), camping, fishing, picnicking, parasailing, hang gliding, and even ultralight aircraft flying. Hiking is especially good. The final remnant of the Ching dynasty trail that in ancient times provided the only means of land communication around the northeast corner of Taiwan has been beautifully rebuilt and designated the Tsaoling Historic Trail. The scenic area administration has recently developed eight more hiking paths, all leading to the peaks of nearby mountains. They offer round-trip walks lasting from two hours to a full day.
Boating in Taiwan will get a huge boost with the completion of the island's first marina (the scenic area administration is calling it an ocean park) at Lungtung later this year. Besides fifty-six berths (thirty to forty of which will be for private yachts, the rest for commercial operations) and land accommodation for forty more boats, this development will have a private yacht club, dining and shopping facilities, boat repair shops and yards, seawater swimming pools, and a training center for scuba divers. The two other marinas that are planned but not yet under construction will be even larger.
Waiting for the sun and a tougher anti-litter law at Fulung beach—Most leisure sites, including this one operated by the Taiwan Tourism Administration, are being marred by thoughtless visitors.
But just looking at the scenery is enough activity for many visitors. Nature has outdone itself in providing fascinating stone sculptures—capes, cliffs, honey comb rock, mushroom rock, bean curd rock, box work rock, and cuesta formations, which rise gradually on one side and break off into abrupt cliffs on the other. The most interesting spots have nearby parking lots and walkways that provide easy access. The entire area is backed by steep forested mountains, and the sea floor is dotted by coral reefs teeming with a rich, colorful variety of sea life.
Human culture is another attraction. There are two old lighthouses in the area, but more interesting are the quaint fishing villages where life seems little changed from decades ago. Each village has at least one temple where traditional worship is carried on much as it has been for centuries. Most modern buildings in the area are characterized by bare gray cement walls and unattractive flat roofs—buildings that exhibit virtually no sense of character or style—but this is changing, to an extent. The administration encourages more aesthetic design by offering subsidies for the addition of sloping roofs covered with colored tile.
The development of the northeast coast also illustrates some of the formidable obstacles that have to be overcome in carrying out rational development. Example: When this part of Taiwan was declared a national scenic area on June 1, 1984, much of the natural coastline was being destroyed by abalone farmers who illegally dug aquaculture ponds out of the seashore rock. Despite its patent illegality, this ravaging of the area's natural endowment was supported by local politicians out to gain popular support, disregarding the impact on the environment.
Urbanites experience a rare commodity—grass. The shoreline is sculpted with mushroom rocks, one of the many unusual geological forms along the northeast coast.
Fortunately, the illegal abalone raising was stopped with the help of pressure from high government authorities, and the Tourism Bureau came up with an ingenious use for some of the ponds that were subsequently abandoned. With the addition of wooden walkways, bathrooms, and other amenities, they were converted into seawater swimming pools.
While everybody agrees that international standards are desirable, it has become clear that not all facilities designed for foreign travelers necessarily conform to the preferences of the local residents who constitute more than 95 percent of all visitors to the northeast coast. A case in point: The Lungmen Campground, which was completed in late 1991, just in time for the International FICC Rally. The FICC (Federation Internationale de Camping et Caravaning) is a worldwide organization, based in France, whose membership consists largely of older campers; the Lung men campground was built partly to fill their requirements.
Although Lungmen is indisputably Taiwan's finest campground, the Northeast Coast National Scenic Area Administration has found it necessary to add facilities so that it will have greater appeal to Taiwan's younger, more active campers. Two swimming pools are being built, and an activity area will likely follow. A bicycle path is also being built in the area, and bicycle tours to nearby points of interest are in the planning stage.
Cheng Yang Sheng (鄭仰生), the chief secretary of the scenic area administration, says that such changes and improvements, along with regular maintenance, make the development of the northeast coast an unending process. Nevertheless, the basic infrastructure is in place. "Most of the hardware facilities along the coast are finished," says Lin Fang Ming (林芳明), the administration's director. "Our emphasis in the future will be on encouraging the private sector to participate in the investment and management of the facilities."
Facilities slated for private investment include at least five hotels and perhaps two of the three marinas included in the master plan. One such private development project—a joint venture by a Japanese company and the largest enterprise group in northeastern Taiwan—is on the drawing boards for Miyuehwan (Honeymoon Bay), with construction to begin possibly next year. Among other facilities, this project includes an international-class hotel and conference hall, as well as an aquarum and small yacht harbor.
In addition, private companies will be invited to take over some of the existing facilities—the campground, the first marina, certain parks, and food and beverage facilities—and manage them on concession. This is not an easy task, given the conflict in attitude between the intense profit drive of private enterprises and the government's desire to provide services at reasonable prices.
Another difficulty is the maintenance of order and safety. One of the main purposes in establishing national scenic areas is to control the chaotic development that afflicts many privately developed sites—and to keep unauthorized vendors, especially those providing rental and other services that endanger the public, from operating in the areas. The national scenic areas have their own small police units to help in this effort, but these currently have no enforcement authority and are limited to the force of persuasion.
Persuasion is difficult to exert with a total permanent staff of only twenty-nine for the entire scenic area. This weakness is reflected in the large amounts of trash that mar so much of the scenery. Unfortunately, the vast majority of the visitors to the scenic area have yet to develop an anti-litter consciousness. Clean-up personnel are diligent, but on crowded weekends they simply cannot keep up.
A revised statute now before the Legislative Yuan would provide enforcement authority—but even that, when it comes, might be of questionable utility. The national parks can already enforce their regulations, but the authorities sometimes appear impotent, especially in Kenting National Park, where illegal jet skis are operated so rampantly that most bathers are now afraid to swim at the park's most popular beaches.
The popularity of hiking along the Tsaoling Historic Trail is one reason the Northeast Coast National Scenic Area has been given high priority for further expansion in the recently revised Six-Year National Development Plan.
Everybody agrees, nevertheless, that the Northeast Coast National Scenic Area has done a fine job of providing a wide range of safe, healthful, and enjoyable activities. And, according to Lin Fang Ming, this is precisely the purpose of the scenic area: "We hope to give the people of the greater Taipei area—actually, all the people of northern Taiwan—a clean, large, well-developed space to spend their time in leisure and recreation, to relax and improve the quality of their lives."
The scenic area administration also strives to educate its visitors by providing interpretive services, multimedia and video shows, and a number of general and specialized publications. The latter include books and brochures (most of them available only in Chinese) on the area's geology, topography, coastal organisms, fishing safety, vegetation, and even dining—on seafood, naturally. Other books now in the works will cover insects, birds, flora, and hiking trails.
The very success of the scenic area has created a transportation problem, especially on weekends and holidays. Railway service from Taipei to Fulung is fairly frequent, with hourly or more frequent daytime departures for the seventy to eighty minute trip. On prime beach-going days, the railway cars are packed to the point where many would-be travelers cannot safely board peak-hour trains. The alternative, driving, should take about the same amount of time as the train, but the trip actually takes longer because of heavy traffic on the narrow roads. The highway bureau plans to improve this situation within five years by building two new highways that bypass the most congested road sections.
Taiwan's national scenic areas, says Rolf Pfisterer, general manager of Taipei's Sherwood Hotel, "are probably better than anything else" in the island's tourism offerings. The Northeast Coast National Scenic Area has therefore pointed the way toward Taiwan's development into an attractive tourist destination. How well the Tourism Bureau continues carrying out development here and in its other national scenic areas will do much toward putting Taiwan on the world tourism map—and keeping it there in years to come.—Earl Wieman is a freelance writer specializing in tourism and travel and is editor-in-chief of the monthly magazine Travel in Taiwan, published in Taipei. •