To innovate the way of travel, the Hakka Affairs Council (HAC) has partnered with the Industrial Technology Research Institute to build a smart tourism platform named “Romantic Hakka (浪漫客),” through which people can easily search for travel information about Hakka settlements with smartphones. It is expected to attract more travelers from Taiwan and abroad to visit Hakka regions across the island, spur economic growth, and boost the local industrial development.

Romantic Hakka is an exclusive platform and app online, which focuses on excursions to Hakka villages in Taiwan. It has selected at least 700 tourist attractions, 300 featured shops, 50 tour itineraries, and 30 types of ticket combo packages. With the advanced technology, the way of promoting Hakka tourism industry is evolving. HAC also encourages local governments and businesspeople to provide the website and the app with the latest information about transportation and accommodation in Hakka regions. Through the new mode of consumption and interaction, it is hoped that the app can offer more diverse experiences when visitors travel to Hakka settlements.

The platform introduced resources of local tourism in the areas of Taoyuan, Hsinchu, and Miaoli as well as Hakka settlements in southern and eastern Taiwan. Through the influence of boundless internet, the app can make trippers travel more economically and conveniently in the hope to draw more visitors to Taiwan Romantic Route 3, explore the Hakka landscapes, and experience the charm of Hakka culture.

Through the app, consumers can download QR codes after purchasing the combo e-tickets. They can travel effortlessly with their smartphones that have QR codes. In addition, the app provides the functions of tracking the trip and guiding visitors to the local featured stores.

The fall and winter subsidy program for domestic travel to Hakka villages in 2019