Thirty-nine Chinese travel agents are scheduled to arrive on Monday to check on major tourist attractions in Taiwan, the Tourism Bureau said yesterday.
The bureau said in a statement that the group would be led by Fan Gui-shan (范貴山), deputy chief secretary of the Cross-Strait Tourism Association. The association is a private organization authorized by the China National Tourism Bureau to handle cross-strait tourism affairs. The parallel organization in Taiwan is the Taiwan Strait Tourism and Travel Association.
Chen Yu-chuan (陳煜川), a specialist at the Tourism Bureau, said the bureau had designed 20 different travel routes for travel agents to choose from.
“All the scenic spots we present are those that Chinese tourists will definitely visit when they come, only they can be arranged differently, depending on their requests,” Chen said.
The group will stay for 11 days.
Chen said the scenic spots include those in Taiwan proper as well as on surrounding islands, including the National Palace Museum, Taipei 101 and Alishan (阿里山).
They can also choose to take the Taiwan Railway Administration’s around-the-nation railway system or take the Taiwan High Speed Rail. Aside from the top-tier accommodations, the bureau has arranged for travel agents to see mid-price hotels and restaurants, so the agents can design a variety of travel arrangements.
Wayne Liu (劉喜臨), director of the bureau’s international division, said the Chinese travel agents come from different provinces in China. They will first gather in Macau and arrive in Taiwan as a group at 2pm.
This special tour for travel agents was determined before the official meeting between the Straits Exchange Foundation chairman Chiang Pin-kung (江丙坤) and his counterpart Chen Yunlin (陳雲林) of the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait on Thursday.
A group of 600 Chinese tourists are scheduled to arrive on July 4.
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