Tourism stocks advanced yesterday as media outlets in China reported that Beijing would announce regulations allowing more Chinese tourists to visit Taiwan. The news boosted share prices of hoteliers such as Formosa International Hotels Corp (晶華) to record highs.
Formosa gained NT$3.1, or 6.4 percent, to close at NT$51.6. The Ambassador Hotel Ltd (國賓) rose NT$1.75 to NT$26.85, and Leofoo Development Co (六福) climbed NT$1.1 to NT$17.45, both reaching the upper limit of 7 percent on share price fluctuations.
"We welcome China's policy to ease its tourism ban, which will bring huge economic benefits to Taiwan," said Johnson Tseng (
In 2002, the government limited the number of visitors from China to 1,000 per day, or 365,000 a year, but because Beijing maintains strict controls on visits to Taiwan, only 19,000 Chinese tourists came to Taiwan for sightseeing last year, and 13,900 engaged in academic and business exchanges here, according to government statistics.
If the current quota of Chinese visitors were to be filled every day, the Taiwanese economy would receive an injection of NT$50 billion (US$1.6 billion) per year, Tseng said.
China consented allowing more of its citizens to visit Taiwan after meetings with Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Lien Chan (連戰) and People First Party Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜).
One of China's official news agencies reported yesterday that the National Tourism Administration plans to announce concrete regulations on cross-strait tourism soon. Later in the afternoon Beijing said it would adjust its regulations in accordance with the capacity and conditions set by Taiwan, according to an official Chinese Web-based news publication.
To capitalize on an expected flood of tourists wanting to visit Taiwan, many travel agencies in China have come up with travel packages ranging in price from NT$4,000 to NT$8,000, according to China News Service.
Huang Hsin-chuan (黃信川), a vice president of sales at Lion Travel Service Co (雄獅旅行社), Taiwan's largest travel agency, said the agency is also preparing for an influx of visitors from China.
"All the local tourism-related businesses are pinning great hopes on the easing of restrictions, which we believe will greatly boost Taiwan's tourism industry," Huang said.
Lion Travel has already come up with several preliminary travel packages which include sightseeing spots that are popular with tourists from China, such as Sun Moon Lake, Alishan and Taroko Gorge, Huang said.
Tseng said the government should draw up laws to regulate local travel agencies before crowds of Chinese nationals start coming to Taiwan.
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