Kenting’s tourist arrivals have plunged amidst complaints about service quality, prices, and litter.

The News Lens
Date: 2018/07/20
By: Matthew Fulco

Photo Credit: Matthew Fulco

Kenting is the closest Taiwan gets to a tropical Arcadia. The small seaside town lies in a secluded peninsula near the island’s southernmost point, about 200 km south of the Tropic of Cancer. White-sand beaches abound. The sun blazes, coloring the temperate waters azure, aquamarine, and royal blue. The air is pristine too. Geographic isolation and steady winds protect Kenting (sometimes also spelled Kending) from the smog that often envelops Taiwan’s western half.

Designated as a national park in 1984, Kenting gradually developed a tourism sector over the next two decades. Visitors were nearly all domestic. Development was haphazard but small-scale, preserving the area’s rustic splendor.

Kenting’s tourism market came alive a decade ago, buoyed by a confluence of factors. The arrival of high-speed rail to Kaohsiung in 2007 nearly halved travel time from northern Taiwan to four and a half hours. Secondly, the hit Taiwanese film “Cape No. 7”, shot on location, attracted a wave of Hong Kong tourists. And most importantly, in 2011 the Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) administration eased restrictions on individual Chinese visitors to Taiwan.    [FULL  STORY]