What impression do you get of MyTaiwanTour give you? Warm? Professional? Just like Rome, brand impression wasn’t built in a day. To MyTaiwanTour, Product Manager and BD director Daria is the Augustus who built our brand image. She accompanied us through the challenge of rebranding, optimizing products and holding special events. In other words, her job is to push MyTaiwanTour to be the best it can be. “Taiwan may not may be perfect for everyone,” she said, “But it’s incredibly fun for me to discover its beauties and show them to the world”.
Perhaps somewhat surprisingly, Daria was a kindergarten teacher before joining MyTaiwanTour. However, one thing didn’t change when she shifted careers: her love and enjoyment of everything she does. Her first big mission, assigned two years ago, was to rebrand MyTaiwanTour. From a new logo design to throwing a company-wide party, she needed to make sure that we sent a strong and important message to the public: MyTaiwanTour knows Taiwan.
Alongside the rebranding, she also had to develop new products and optimize existing tours. “Sometimes, you have to go through the most inconspicuous place to discover paradise. That’s how deep Taiwan’s beauty is hidden” she grinned from ear to ear when recalling her journey exploring Taiwan. People know Taiwan for its multiculturalism but sometimes it can be a double-edged sword in many ways. A traveler can experience various aspects in such a small country, yet the challenging part is to find out the distinguishing features that make Taiwan stand out. Daria thinks this job is more than just designing tours, it’s about redefining Taiwan, and making it a one of a kind destination.
Daria’s path to her goal isn’t always the easiest. In her opinion, the biggest thorn in her side is the problem of promoting and marketing the lesser known parts of Taiwan. For example, people most likely know Taiwan for Taipei, Taroko and Sun Moon Lake, while hidden gems such as the Formosan Black Bear seldom attract people’s attention. Daria designed a unique tour to explore the endangered species and to practice the idea of sustainable travel, but it wasn’t very popular.
This might come from Taiwan’s insufficient tourism resources. Foreign travelers usually have little to no knowledge of Taiwan and as a result will choose easily accessible destinations such as Taipei when it comes to planning a trip here. Some people will even skip Taiwan as a place to visit in Asia altogether. This dilemma makes Daria realize that we can never make people love what we love, but we can start by letting them understand why we love it. One thing she learned from the experience is that people trust what they see, and a good way of promoting a new product is by making it look attractive. The contents of a product or a picture of a tour can be the main factors that affect a guest’s decision.
What Daria loves about working at MyTaiwanTour is the boundaryless working environment that makes her never stop pushing herself to the limit. Every task is a chance to learn and embrace unexpected possibility.
