TAIPEI: Representatives of the mainland's beauty industry turned back time, so to speak, yesterday as they underwent anti-aging treatments at two Taipei hospitals.

The treatments were part of their fact-finding tour of Taiwan's cosmetic dermatology sector.

Among the services offered to the visitors by the Taipei Veterans General Hospital and the West Garden Hospital's Eonway Health Maintenance Center were botox cosmetic injections and skin rejuvenation procedures.

Huang Ming-shun, a marketing official at the center, said each of the customers spent NT$5,000 ($152) to NT$10,000 on the services.

The delegation comprises 121 professionals from the mainland's beauty sector who arrived in Taiwan on Tuesday for a six-day visit at the invitation of the Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA).

Lin Tsai-hsia, chairwoman of the Taiwan-invested Best Lady Beauty Body Co in Guangzhou, who helped organize the tour, said the group consists mainly of owners and managers of beauty businesses from Chengdu, Fuzhou, Shenyang and Shanxi.

The cosmetic dermatology tour will allow them to learn from Taiwan's success and prepare them for building a cosmetic dermatology industry on the mainland, Lin said.

The delegates, who had attended a conference in Hong Kong prior to their arrival, are also expected to take part in the Taipei In Style 2009 fashion exhibition set for August 28-30 and visit various tourist spots in Taipei, Taoyuan and Kaohsiung during their stay.

TAITRA Vice Chairman Wu Wen-ya estimated that the delegation will generate more than NT$10 million in tourism and cosmetic dermatology revenues for Taiwan.

Wu noted that medium to high-end physical examinations as well as cosmetic dermatology services are two main highlights of Taiwan's medical tourism industry, with the mainland being the greatest potential market.

With mesotherapy becoming increasingly popular on the mainland, non-surgical cosmetic treatments that produce immediate benefits at reasonable prices are especially attractive to business people and office workers there, Wu said.

However, many female executives from the mainland prefer receiving the treatments in Taiwan because Taiwan's law requires the procedures to be performed by licensed physicians, Wu said.

In addition, many of Taiwan's medical institutions run health examination and cosmetic dermatology centers that provide a welcoming environment and services comparable to a five-star hotel, which make the guests feel at home, he said.

In the future, Wu said, TAITRA will organize similar tours that will allow mainland visitors to receive health checkups and mesotherapy treatments in hospitals in southern Taiwan to help them better understand Taiwan's medical technology.

China Daily/CNA

(HK Edition 08/27/2009 page2)