MEET TAIWAN Wins a Gold Stevie® Award with its Open Arms Campaign

The annual MEET TAIWAN Open Arms integrated marketing campaign, organised by the Taiwan International Trade Administration (TITA), has won the "Communication or PR Campaign/Programme of the Year - Country, Region or City" category at the 21st Stevie® Awards.

Under the Ministry of Economic Affairs and executed by the Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA), the campaign was launched last year (2023).

"MEET TAIWAN Open Arms" embodies the spirit of a warm welcome to the global business events industry by the island nation.

Last year, the original theme song and music video were launched for the first time, accompanied by the mascot "PaQ" (meaning "open" in the Taiwanese dialect), to express Taiwan's friendliness and enthusiasm to business events partners worldwide.

The campaign also introduced the MEET TAIWAN Festival, a full month of continuous activities that showcased Taiwan's vibrant energy of business events, with over 300 domestic and international industry players participating. The Asian MICE Forum was held. The campaign also engaged the public through creative social media videos welcoming international business visitors.

Additionally, at the Taiwan Expo Japan, an immersive dome theatre shaped like the Open Arms symbol was constructed, highlighting Taiwan's creativity and vibrant energy in the business events industry.
 

The Stevie® Awards, one of the world's most renowned business awards, are often referred to as the "Oscars of the Business World". Each year, over 12,000 entries from more than 70 countries and regions compete in a variety of categories. In the PR category alone, there were 45 awards. This year, the 2024 Stevie Awards ceremony will be held on October 11th in Istanbul, Turkey.

Stevie® Award judges highlighted that the Open Arms campaign effectively conveyed a warm and sincere welcome. The memorable and catchy slogan, along with the creation of the open-armed mascot PaQ, brought the Open Arms concept to life and gained widespread popularity.

The campaign broke away from traditional marketing approaches of destination promotion of business events, using a warm and human-centred approach to communicate its message. The result was a rapid recovery in the number of business events held in Taiwan in 2023, proving the campaign's success as a destination marketing strategy.

In recent years, TITA has consistently earned numerous international accolades, such as being recognised for three consecutive years (2021–2023) as the Best Convention & Visitors Bureau (Asia) by the Stella Awards.

Through MEET TAIWAN’s initiative, TITA has strategically promoted Taiwan's international image as a top destination for business events. Past Stevie® Award achievements include a Gold in 2015 for the Asia Super Team campaign and a Bronze in 2019 for the High Five Taiwan campaign.