A national travel agents association yesterday called on the government to outline a clear set of guidelines detailing how travel agents could prepare themselves for the influx of independent Chinese travelers, who are expected to start arriving at the end of this month.
The Travel Agent Association of ROC, Taiwan (中華民國旅行商業同業公會全國聯合會) convened a meeting yesterday morning after Chinese National Tourism Administration Director Shao Qiwei (邵琪偉) announced on Sunday that residents from Beijing, Shanghai and Xiamen would be the first allowed to visit Taiwan under the new Chinese free independent travelers (FIT) program, which is scheduled to begin on June 28.
While travel agencies have high hopes of increased revenues from the Chinese tourists, many agencies are concerned about measures that will hold them partly accountable when the individual travelers overstay their visas.
Travel Agent Association chairman Yao Ta-kuang (姚大光) expressed frustration about the government’s ambiguous measures, saying officials have not taken into account travel agents’ concerns.
Association members suggested that they should be able to pay a fine if there are violations relating to one of their Chinese tourists instead of being disqualified from participating in the FIT program for one month.
The National Immigration Agency said that travel agents would not be able to apply for FIT cases for one month if an immigration agent learns of two incidents of Chinese tourists violating the terms of their visas.
“If two Chinese are running loose after their visa is up, will immigration officials be stripped of their pay for one month?” Yao asked.
The association suggested agencies should be offered two penalties to choose from: either disqualification for one month or a fine.
This would allow agents to weigh the options and make the best choice for their firm so as to not affect their bottom line. Also, the association suggested that agencies should be penalized after the fourth violation instead of the second case, as has been proposed.
The immigration agency told the Central News Agency on Sunday that it has been proposing measures to Taiwanese travel agents and it would keep communication channels open.
It said the penalty was to make certain that travel agents would work seamlessly and immediately with their Chinese peers should tourists overstay their visas.
Travel agencies should still be able to run other business even if the one-month disqualification from the FIT program were to be imposed, according to immigration officials.
Shares of the local tourism sector on the Taiwan Stock Exchange saw a mixed reaction yesterday on news of the FIT program.
The news boosted the shares of Formosa International Hotels Corp (晶華國際酒店集團) — the nation’s largest-listed hotel operator — by 2.1 percent to NT$541, while Ambassador Hotel Ltd (國賓大飯店) gained 0.55 percent to NT$46.05.
Phoenix Tours International Inc (鳳凰旅行社), the nation’s only listed travel agency, also saw its shares close up 3.3 percent at NT$79.
However, the nation’s largest airline, China Airlines Ltd (華航), saw its shares close down 3.8 percent at NT$24.15 (US$0.8). EVA Airways Corp (長榮), the country’s second-largest carrier, also declined 1.4 percent to NT$18.2, after Credit Suisse cut its rating on EVA to “neutral” from “outperform.”
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