Kinmen chief tries to promote tourism

Lienchiang County Deputy Commissioner Hsu Wen-chi speaks at a press conference yesterday promoting seagull viewing trips that will begin in July on the offshore island of Matsu. PHOTO: GEORGE TSORNG, TAIPEI TIMES

Kinmen will aggressively develop its tourism industry, targeting tourists from both sides of the Taiwan Strait, Kinmen County Commissioner Lee Chu-feng (李炷烽) said yesterday.

Kinmen's tourism industry sector should make the most of the island's location as part of Taiwan but near China, Lee said.

Addressing the opening of a tourism workshop for hotel operators, travel agency managers and tour guides in Kinmen, Lee said that as a former anti-communist military bastion, Kinmen is blessed with rich tourist resources which should be further tapped.

Lee said there was still ample room for Kinmen to improve tourism-related services. For example, he said, there is little for tourists to do in Kinmen at night.

Competition has for a long time kept profit margins for tourism-related companies near zero, Lee said.

"How can you expect quality if there are no reasonable incomes or profits for the operators?" he asked.

The workshop, which was co-sponsored by the Kinmen County Government and the Kinmen Tourism Development Association, attracted 239 people from Kinmen's tourism industry.