Taiwan is heavily promoting itself as a tourist destination. Visitors have been coming in record numbers and are set to pass the 10 million mark this year. Despite this, Taiwanese are unhappy because many tourist attractions that used to be free are about to start charging fees, with parking lot prices and entrance fees set to rise by two-thirds. The Tourism Bureau said that there are too many tourists, which results in overcrowding and traffic jams, and that raising fees is a way to control visitor numbers.
Following the deregulation of Chinese tourism, such issues have been increasingly evident across the nation. Even though Chinese tour groups help drive local economies, many people feel that the economic gains from the low-spending tourists are far outweighed by the negative effects on the environment and their communities.
Many people mistakenly think that tourism resources are a part of public finance, but it is not a completely shareable resource. Beautiful scenic spots will not be destroyed because some tourists visit, but if the numbers are too great, overcrowding, traffic jams, higher prices and garbage problems will greatly diminish the joys of visiting.
In addition, visitor fees exclude those who are unwilling or unable to pay. If a destination has to carry the stresses of overcrowding, the benefits gained from tourism decrease. Many tourists will not want to travel to places that are too busy, and the prices they are willing to pay to visit will drop. For example, wealthy visitors will not waste time and energy on crowded destinations. The final result will be that such destinations are shunned and the only ones willing to visit will be low-spending tour groups.
Large numbers of Chinese tour groups make it more difficult for local residents to use roads, which might be more easily accepted if they stood to profit from all the visitors. However, as Taiwanese, European and US tourists are replaced by Chinese tourists, the people benefiting from tourism will also change.
When Taiwanese traveled domestically in the past, they would find accommodation close by and buy local products. However, the ones profiting from accommodation for Chinese tourists and their spending are large tourism organizations located in the major cities in Taiwan or in China. The people benefiting are not local residents, and because many Chinese tour operators have established their own organizations in Taiwan, many of those making a profit are not even Taiwanese. Not only are local residents greatly inconvenienced by Chinese tourism, they also do not stand to profit from it, while at the same time losing some of their regular visitors.
This situation is even more serious in Hong Kong, where large numbers of Chinese tourists are encroaching on the daily lives of the territory’s residents. Infuriated Hong Kongers are clashing with Chinese tourists so frequently that it has become a social and a political issue. The problem in Taiwan might not yet have reached such extremities, but if preventative measures are not taken, it could soon be experiencing a similar situation.
If the government wants tourism conditions in the nation to improve, it should take advantage of the fact that Chinese tourism is still in its early stages and amend its attitude of prioritizing tourist numbers, while strengthening its control over the numbers and quality of travel bureaus and tour groups.
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