Urban Tourism in Taipei City, Taiwan - Study on Night Markets

URBAN TOURISM, FOCUS ON TAIPEI CITY IN TAIWAN 1
URBAN TOURISM, FOCUS ON THE CITY OF TAIWAN
STUDENT NAME
INSTITUTION

URBAN TOURISM, FOCUS ON TAIPEI CITY IN TAIWAN 2
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The world has experienced a significant growth in the urban tourism sector. World economies nowadays
embrace urban tourism more than in the past because they have discovered its importance in boosting
economic growth. The Taipei city in Taiwan is one of these beneficiaries of urban tourism with its
popularity in Night Markets (Hou 2010). People visit the Taiwanese capital from various parts of the
world to experience life in the Night Markets, eat Taiwanese delicacies and shop (Liu 2014, P. 11-17).
This project is aimed at finding out the opinion of these visitors analyzing their responses and
developing recommendations to the authorities and various stakeholders on how they can ensure an
increased number of visitors to the Taiwanese Night Markets.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Contents
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY.................................................................................................................................2
CHAPTER 1...................................................................................................................................................5
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................................5
Background..............................................................................................................................................5
Scope of Study.........................................................................................................................................5
Research Question...................................................................................................................................6
Objectives................................................................................................................................................6
CHAPTER 2...................................................................................................................................................6
LITERATURE REVIEW....................................................................................................................................6
CHAPTER 3...................................................................................................................................................7
METHODOLOGY...........................................................................................................................................7
Introduction.............................................................................................................................................7
Sampling..................................................................................................................................................7
Non-probability sampling....................................................................................................................7
Ethical Considerations.............................................................................................................................8
Consent Form..........................................................................................................................................8
Questionnaire..........................................................................................................................................9
DATA........................................................................................................................................................9
Data Analysis Methods............................................................................................................................9
Data Gathering..................................................................................................................................10
Data analysis Tools Employed............................................................................................................10
Data Sources......................................................................................................................................11
Data Types.........................................................................................................................................11
Gantt chart............................................................................................................................................11
Budget...................................................................................................................................................12
CHAPTER 4.................................................................................................................................................12
RESULTS, ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION.......................................................................................................12
CHAPTER 5.................................................................................................................................................21
CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS................................................................................................21
Conclusion.............................................................................................................................................21
Recommendations.................................................................................................................................21

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BIBLIOGRAPHY...........................................................................................................................................22
Appendix...................................................................................................................................................25
Survey results........................................................................................................................................25
Excel Results..........................................................................................................................................31

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CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
Background
In the current world there are multiple tourist activities in various parts of the globe where cities are the
major place of interest (Sun, Wang & Huang 2012, p. 25-44). Millions of people travel to various cities
around the world with the purpose of exploration. Urban tourism is directly connected to the growth of
the city’s aspects such as infrastructure and technology (Tien 2008). The increase in the levels of urban
tourism in the current world as compared to the past can be compared to the fact that nowadays
travelling to cities in the world has become easier and cheaper (Davis 2003, p. 165-176). By nature
human beings love adventure thus when given an opportunity they explore different places for fun.
During their visit the tourists utilize the various services and products offered by the cities including
taking the delicacies of the locals, the overall benefit of this to the city is that is boosts its economic
growth (Chan 2008, p. 391-406).
There are different forms of tourist activities which can be conducted in the cities such as religion,
sightseeing, entertainment e.g. in clubs, business venues, shopping, participation in conferences among
others. Millions of people visit cities such as Paris, London and New York to hold conferences every year.
Dubai is known as one of the most attractive shopping and entertainment destinations in the world thus
an urban tourism center attracting millions of visitors every year (Huang, Liu & Tzeng 2009, P. 53-68).
The cities of Rome and Mecca also receive millions of international visitors yearly who go there for
religious purposes (Li & Ko 2012, P. 17-21).
The city of Taipei in Taiwan is one of the most visited cities in the world receiving millions of both local
and international tourists yearly. One of its greatest pleasures is the Night Markets which attract millions
of visitors (Chiu 2013, P. 335-352).in the Night Market life is experienced in snacking and eating all night
long with family and friends. Night snacking is regarded as an activity to relax from the day’s hustle (Law
2012, P/ 599-618). The Taipei city’s night market scene has grown to the level of being considered one
of the biggest in the world with most stores opening from late night up to the morning and others
operating 24 hours (Law 2013). Visitors get to enjoy great Taiwanese delicacies such as goose, snakes,
squid soup and Chinese delicacies or a mix of the two in the markets. Visitors go to the night markets to
also shop in the Taipei markets and look at the country’s cultural arts (Page 2005).
This project focusses on the visitors who come to Taipei city’s Night Markets. The research seeks to find
out the reasons why they visit, the foods they like, the services they receive and their overall feeling of
the city’s Night Market (Jou, Tsai & Wu 2013, P. 651-659). The project provides recommendations at the
end to the authorities and the various stakeholders in the city on how they can improve the tourist
experience of the visitors thus increase the number of visitors.
Scope of Study
The study covers the activities in the Taipei Night Markets. Various visitors to the markets are given a
questionnaire to fill in order to gather their opinions. The results on the questionnaires are gathered and
an analysis done on them to discover trends and give recommendations.

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Research Question
This research seeks to answer the question on the general feeling of the visitors to the Taipei Night
markets and seek their opinions on various aspects related to the Night Markets.
Objectives
This research is based on the Taipei city Night Markets with the following aims:
 To analyze the type of visitors who visit the Taipei Night Markets in terms of age, gender and
occupation in order to discover trends.
 To gather the opinions of the visitors to the Taipei city Night Markets in order to develop
recommendations to the authorities and other stakeholders.
 To evaluate the contribution of Night Markets to the growth of the city of Taipei (Jou, Erick &
Hsiao 2016, P. 560-576).
CHAPTER 2
LITERATURE REVIEW
Wu & Luan (2007) state that Night markets date back over a thousand years to the Chinese Dynasty
called the Tang Dynasty. The Chinese initiated the idea of the night markets which was later on adopted
in Taiwan in the 1950s. Currently in Taiwan there are many original stores dating back to the 1950s
displaying their staring dates and history which is a great sight for local and international tourists.
However, there are night markets in Taipei which came early than the 1950s like the Shilin night market
which dates back one hundred years ago. The Taipei Night Markets initially started as food stalls in front
of temples or near temples and grew to large markets spreading to nearby neighborhoods. The current
Taipei night markets showcase many types of foods and are very popular among tourists and locals.
Since many people are not into drinking in Taipei Night Markets are the perfect hangout places for them
(Wu & Luan 2007)
Hsieh & Chang (2006, p. 138-145) points out that Night Markets in Taiwanese capital Taiwan are
extremely popular both locally and internationally. The markets offer many types of foods from dried
foods to street foods. The markets also offer entertainment, souvenirs and clothes for the visitors to
buy. The markets are scattered across the Taiwanese capital and vary in popularity, style and size thus
offering a variety to both local and international tourists. The Shilin Night Market is one of them and
offers foods and shops with all kind of commodities from electronics to clothes (Hsieh & Chang 2006, p.
138-145).
Chang & Hui (2006) states that night markets can be described as open air markets. They are not
businesslike day markets but are usually associated with leisure shopping and eating. The idea of Night
Markets originated in china but spread to other areas in the globe especially in Asia. Singapore, Taiwan
and North America are some of the places which represent the spread of the concept of night markets.
These markets attract millions of both local and international visitors annually who go there with the
aim of having fun from snacking to entertainment and shopping (Chang & Hui 2006).

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Chang, Miu, Pearl & Chiang (2007) indicates that urban tourism has had a significant growth over the
years in the globe. People visit various parts of the globe for different purposes such as to see historical
monuments, ancient statues, restaurants, night clubs, conference centers, sports and many more
reasons. Chang, Miu, Pearl & Chiang (2007) states that this leads to social, economic and cultural
growth. However, this many have a negative effect on the urban centers such as reduced availability of
the attractions to the locals, air and noise pollution. Every tourist has their unique motivation of visiting
the tourist centers with most of the international tourists spending a short period of time in the
destinations usually a few days. The most popular urban tourism areas are cities such as Paris, London,
Barcelona, and Hong Kong, New York among others (Chang, Miu, Pearl & Chiang 2007).
Wu, Cheng & Hsu (2014, P. 185-197) points out that urban destinations as tourist attractions offer a
variety of architectural, social, cultural and technological experiences to their visitors for business and
leisure. Tourism constitutes a major part in the development of world economies and since most of the
world’s population live in cities urban tourism contributes significantly in many aspects of the global
economies. The level of attraction a city offers to potential tourists depends on how the city manages
itself and the living conditions it offers to the visitors (Wu, Cheng & Hsu 2014, P. 185-197).
Kanvelyle & Liu (2011, P. 257-270) in their research state that developing urban tourism in the globe
needs a unified effort from tourism managers, non-stakeholders, governments and the tourists
themselves. Recent analysis on the global travelling trends shows an upsurge of urban tourism with the
fact that cities are the origin of most international travels. Urban population is expected to grow to 61%
by 2030 in the globe thus an increase in the visitors to the various joints of the cities. Many cities have
recognized the fact that tourism contributes to the growth of the income of the local people and the city
infrastructure. However, urban tourism remains an area in which very shallow research has been done
in since many researchers only focus on tourism as a whole or the city without highlighting urban
tourism in it (Kanvelyle & Liu 2011, P. 257-270).
CHAPTER 3
METHODOLOGY
Introduction
For the project objectives to be achieved effectively various methods were employed from the time of
data collection, data analysis to presentation of results and recommendations.
Sampling
In order to ensure the accuracy of the data presented in the project sampling has to be applied. The
visitors of the Night Market who were interviewed were selected by the method of Non probability
sampling (Shiu & Hsou 2006, P. 71-80).
Non-probability sampling
Since the study was dealing with a large population of people in this case the visitors to the Night
Market the method of non-probability sampling was preferred with the employment of the volunteer
type of non-probability sampling (Milgram 2014, P. 153-174). In the volunteer type of non-probability

URBAN TOURISM, FOCUS ON TAIPEI CITY IN TAIWAN 8
sampling the respondents to the questionnaire were selected randomly in a sense that anybody who
was willing to participate was given the opportunity to do so (Tu & Lin 2008, P. 157-171).
From this system of non-probability sampling a total of fifty (50) respondents were chosen to participate
in the research.
Ethical Considerations
Every research must uphold acceptable research ethical standards. In is a necessity that consent must be
sought from all participants of the research before they take part in it. During the research consent was
sought from all visitors of the Night Market who responded to the questionnaires. The respondents
were assured of the privacy of the responses they were giving and that it would be purely used for
educational purposes (Pottie & Hiebert 2015, P. 538-544). The objectives of the research were explained
to all participants after which they were given the consent forms to fill. Only those who filled the
consent forms were allowed to take part in the research (Chuang, Tai & Hsu 2010, P. 2010).
Consent Form
A consent form was given to all those who were willing to take part in the research with the information
that they could withdraw from participating in the research at will (Chuang, Huang, Wuon & Chen 2014,
P. 33-344). The contents of the consent form are as follows:
CONSENT FORM
a. Research Description
You are invited to take part in this research entitled The Taipei Night Markets conducted by (student
name). The objective of this research is to explore urban tourism in the city of. The focus of the research
is the Taipei Night Markets.
b. Discomforts
There are no risks associated with participating in this research.
c. Potential Benefits
There are no known potential benefits associated with participating in this project.
d. Confidentiality
The personal information given in this research will be kept purely confidential and the responses will
only be used for academic purposes.
e. Voluntary participation
The participation in this research is on the basis of willing participant. You may choose not to participate
or to participate in the research and may withdraw your participation at will.
Consent