“People will not be able to afford domestic travel anymore,” Yeh said.
Yeh also said that the increase of Chinese tourists would probably crowd out local tourists and tourists from other countries.
In response, Lai said the bureau would meet with travel service operators and discuss the possibility of having Chinese tourists visit countryside destinations on weekdays and cities on weekends to divide the crowds.
Other KMT lawmakers said Chinese tourists had been complaining about the quality of travel services and shopping in Taiwan.
DPP legislators Kuan Bi-ling (管碧玲) and Lai Ching-te (賴清德) questioned whether the ministry had coordinated with Department of Health officials to prevent diseases being imported from China. They said China had a large number of people suffering from tuberculosis who, if allowed to visit, would pose a public health threat.
In its briefing to the committee, the Ministry of the Interior (MOI) said the government must decide which organization should be in charge of reviewing visa applications for Chinese tourists.
The Tourism Bureau entrusts the Travel Agents Association (旅行商業同業公會全國聯合會) with arranging the travel affairs of Chinese tourists, while the National Immigration Agency (NIA) reviews visa applications from foreigners.
The MOI also said that the NIA would be short of immigration officers and resources to inspect incoming visitors from China at airports and seaports.
Since 2002, more than 280,000 Chinese tourists have visited Taiwan. The MOI has extradited 94 Chinese tourists who did not return to China before their visas expired.
Twenty-five Chinese tourists are missing.
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