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Travelers who drop trips won't lose out

Travelers gather at the train station in Guangzhou as China's transport network buckled under a big freeze. PHOTO: AFP

The snow and ice storms that have crippled China's transportation system have many people in Taiwan worried about their vacation plans.

The Tourism Bureau said yesterday that people heading to China for the Lunar New Year holiday are entitled to a partial refund if they cancel their trips because of the record snowfalls.

Millions of Chinese have been camped out at airports and railway stations -- some for several days -- because of transport disruptions, especially along the key north-south corridor.

Tourism Bureau Deputy Director General Hsieh Wei-chun (謝謂君) said the law requires travel agencies to return payments to customers on request after non-refundable expenses are deducted.

Travel agencies must also assist customers if they wish to transfer to other group tours, he said.

Chang Shi-chung (張錫聰), director of the bureau's hotel, travel and training division, said that since the poor weather is force majeure, customers could ask to cancel their trip or travel groups could call off their arrangements.

Bureau officials met yesterday morning with representatives from the Travel Agent Association and the Travel Quality Assurance Association and it was decided that the Travel Agent Association would contact its sources in China and gather first-hand information on the situation. The association will meet with its members today to discuss the situation.

Chang said the crisis has mainly affected cities south of the Yangtze River. Cities such as Beijing and Tianjin have not been affected as much, he said.

The Travel Agent Association estimated that between 7,000 and 8,000 people in Taiwan are due to travel to China next week. There are about 10 Taiwanese tour groups already in China.

The association said some airports in China have resumed normal operations. However, Zhangjiajie in Hunan Province and Huangshan in Anhui Province suffered damage and were closed at one point.

The Mainland Affairs Council said airlines offering cross-strait charter flights for the Lunar New Year holiday will be allowed to adjust their flight schedules if needed because of snowstorms.

Central Weather Bureau (CWB) Director Daniel Wu (吳德榮) said a frontal system is expected to arrive in China on Saturday, which could help bring dry cold air from the north to prevent the formation of snow. He said that while the intensity of a high pressure front from Mongolia remains strong, the cold air masses it carries are stagnant and continue to move south. That, coupled with the hydrosphere from the Bay of Bengal, China's snowy weather would last longer than usual, he said.

"Since this kind of weather has never happened to them before, they had no way to prepare in advance," he said.

The CWB said two strong cold fronts from the north are expected to arrive in Taiwan, on Saturday and Monday.

The thermometer is likely to drop to a low 13oC in the north and 15oC in the south today, the weather bureau said.

ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY CNA

Also See: Hsieh calls for flexibility in Lunar New Year flights
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