The trip to Flying Cow Ranch in Taiwan 16 years ago has since become an inspiration for me to venture into the themed tourism sector.

She will spontaneously pop into my mind each year on Taiwan’s Oct 10 national day. Since we first met in Taipei in 2005, a powerful bond has been established between Shinny Chiu and me. To be more precise, since that very first meeting under the roof of a Taiwanese leisure farm, an institution unique to the island.

I remember early that morning there was rain in Taipei, unusual for this time fall of the year. We had made an appointment to meet at the café of a small hotel, with the help of Nancy Lee, the GM of a Taiwanese travel agency in charge of inbound tour business. Notably, Lee had been instrumental in developing Taiwan’s inbound tourism industry for the Southeast Asian market.

That trip actually marked my second visit to Taiwan, the first being a study tour outside Taipei while I was still studying in Japan. Although these two trips were very different in nature, both were equally significant to me.

To be honest, I had wished to bump into people like Sylvia Chang, Stanley Yen or Jonathan Lee… but in the end, it was this pretty and fair skinned young lady Shinny who showed up in front of me. After knowing her, I learned that she always put on a sweet smiling face and talked with a crisp and melodious Taiwanese accent of Mandarin. Absolutely friendly and approachable. It’s 10 out of 10 for my first impression of her!

I did learn a lot from her in our subsequent meetings in business collaboration, including how to precisely express myself and how to talk tactically. A radio DJ before that, she was a pro in effective communication! No wonder she could easily handle any kind of event or while meeting any kind of people. Oh yes, she looked a little like Taiwan’s supermodel Lin Chi-ling! I wasn’t the only one who said so. Even she herself did not decline the compliment!

On the business card she handed me in our first meeting, it was written: Secretary of Taiwan Leisure Farming Development Association responsible for overseas marketing.

Somehow the name of the association sounded peculiar to me. I was wondering what sort of mission it had.

I was really curious. I remember Nancy Lee told me before I came to Taipei: Lee San, you are an expert in promoting Japan tour packages. I wonder whether you can help us promote Taiwan, and how we can improve our offerings.

That was tough, honestly. Although farms in Taiwan had recently incorporated the leisure concept, few oversea agencies could accept the idea of farm visits!

Back then it was not yet time for Apple Vacations to seriously include tour packages to Taiwan. Nevertheless, from what I had observed from customers joining our Japan tour packages, their impressions of Taiwan were not that encouraging. But to me, as long as there were people voicing their views, there was always room for improvement. And this prompted me to want to travel to Taiwan to find out more about its market potential.

After a brief exchange of greetings. Shinny instructed the driver to send us to Flying Cow Ranch.

Owing to the National Day long weekend, the highway was jam packed with traffic and it took us quite some time to reach Flying Cow Ranch. Inside the car, she explained to me Taiwan’s leisure farm concept and the role of the seven-year-old Taiwan Leisure Farming Development Association.

Along the way, she mentioned a couple of names. Those were the proprietors of Taiwan’s major farms and co-founders of the association. I later learned that they were all VVIPs in Taiwan’s leisure farming industry.

The car was moving forward sluggishly but Shiang-lin was speaking in a very systematic and clear manner. Listening to her was something enjoyable! From her I came to know the real purpose of farm “leisurisation”, just like how the Westerners did to their wineries to give added value to their farm products.

The guests not only can put up a night at the farm and eat freshly harvested garden greens, they will also be able to visit the orchard and witness how to pluck the fruit, and perhaps even have hands-on experience in harvesting the crop! To be honest, the more I listened, the more I found myself hooked on this novel tourism concept.

Today, this Ms. Shinny who took me to a leisure farm in Taiwan 16 years ago, has become an inspiration for me to venture into the themed tourism sector!

More in the Isshōkenmei series

(Lee San is Founder and Group Executive Chairman of Apple Vacations. He has travelled to 132 countries, six continents, and enjoys sharing his travel stories and insights. He has also authored five books.)