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Tourism Bureau seeks to distribute Chinese flights

"We have waited so long for this moment. I hope the media could be more encouraging and less critical." — Janice Lai, Tourism Bureau director-general

The Tourism Bureau said yesterday it hoped the 600 Chinese tourists scheduled to arrive next Friday will land at different airports around the country rather than just one or two.

Eight airports, including Taipei Songshan, Taoyuan International Airport and those in Taichung, Kaohsiung, Hualien and Taitung, have been designated to handle cross-strait charter flights. However, as of yesterday no Chinese or Taiwanese airline had applied for cross-strait service to or from Taitung.

None had applied to fly from Kaohsiung until yesterday, when Uni Air said it would offer service between Kaohsiung and Guangzhou.

The 600 Chinese tourists set to arrive next week will be divided into six groups. The main group will be led by China’s Cross-Strait Tourism Association chairman Shao Qiwei (邵琪偉).

The director-general of the Tourism Bureau, Janice Lai (賴瑟珍), said representatives from the Cross-Strait Tourism Association and the Taiwan Strait Tourism and Travel Association met earlier this month and the local group had asked that the first flights arrive in different parts of Taiwan.

The Cross-Strait Tourism Association is still trying to work out arrangements with the airlines, she said, adding that it lacked the personnel to handle the increase in tourist departures.

Lai said that as “international custom” requires Taiwan — as the host country — to hold celebrations to greet the initial tourists, the bureau would host a dinner party at the Grand Hotel in Taipei and another one on the east coast.

Lai denied the bureau had promised to pay for the initial charter flights so that Chinese tourists would arrive in different cities. She said the Taiwan Strait Tourism and Travel Association would only pay for High Speed Rail tickets so that those arriving in Taichung and Kaohsiung could come to Taipei for the dinner.

Lai, however, said she and the bureau were under a lot of pressure.

“Before the Chinese travel agents came, my colleagues had rehearsed all the possible scenarios,” she said. “We tried to cover the smallest details, from the scenic spots they would visit to the food served in restaurants.”

“We have waited so long for this moment. I hope the media could be more encouraging and less critical,” she said, tearing up.

Meanwhile, the Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) is mulling allowing Airbus 330s to land at Songshan, although the planes’ wide wingspan means the partitions separating the runway and fuel depot would have to be removed.

“We haven’t made a decision yet,” CAA Director General Billy Chang (張國政) said yesterday.
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