Representatives from Taiwan’s tourism sector yesterday asked travel agencies to follow strict self-regulation when dealing with tour groups from China, saying that they must not charge Chinese tourists less than US$60 per day per head.
Travel Agent Association (TAA) chairman Ya Ta-kuang (姚大光) said the Tourism Bureau also required that Chinese tourists be charged no more than US$80 per day to ensure quality of service. He said US$80 is commonly perceived as a reasonable price.
While Yao said some travel agencies might still be able to offer an acceptable level of service for less than US$80 per day, it was impossible for them to charge less than US$60 per day and still maintain standards.
Yao raised the issue at a cross-strait travel seminar yesterday, attended by Tourism Bureau Deputy Director General Hsieh Wei-chun (謝謂君), China’s National Tourism Administration Chairman Shao Qiwei (邵琪偉) and several travel industry representatives from Taiwan and China.
Yao said that some travel agents allegedly offer tour packages for as little as US$30 per day, seeking to earn profits by arranging for visitors to go shopping at designated stores.
Yao cited statistics from the TAA — which is entrusted by the government to help review applications from tour groups from China — showing that an average of 700 Chinese tourists per day are scheduled to come to Taiwan next month.
As more than 100 Chinese travel agencies are authorized to organize tours to Taiwan, the number could potentially rise to 1,500 per day, he said.
Shao said in his presentation that both sides of the Strait could maximize cross-strait tourism by engaging in tourist exchange mechanisms, like campaigns launched in Jiangsu and Shandong.
Both sides also need to establish a platform to exchange travel information that enables travel agencies to design different tour packages and to better cope with emergency situations, he said.
Shao also mentioned the possibility of promoting a cross-strait cruise tour service this year.
“China is preparing to invade Taiwan,” Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) said in an exclusive interview with British media channel Sky News for a special report titled, “Is Taiwan ready for a Chinese invasion?” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said today in a statement. The 25-minute-long special report by Helen Ann-Smith released yesterday saw Sky News travel to Penghu, Taoyuan and Taipei to discuss the possibility of a Chinese invasion and how Taiwan is preparing for an attack. The film observed emergency response drills, interviewed baseball fans at the Taipei Dome on their views of US President
ECONOMIC BENEFITS: The imports from Belize would replace those from Honduras, whose shrimp exports have dropped 67 percent since cutting ties in 2023 Maintaining ties with Taiwan has economic benefits, Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials said yesterday, citing the approval of frozen whiteleg shrimp imports from Belize by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as an example. The FDA on Wednesday approved the tariff-free imports from Belize after the whiteleg shrimp passed the Systematic Inspection of Imported Food, which would continue to boost mutual trade, the ministry said. Taiwan’s annual consumption of whiteleg shrimps stands at 30,000 tonnes, far exceeding domestic production, the ministry said. Taiwan used to fill the gap by importing shrimps from Honduras, but purchases slumped after Tegucigalpa severed diplomatic ties with Taiwan
The Executive Yuan yesterday approved a southwestern extension of the Sanying MRT Line from New Taipei to Bade District (八德) in Taoyuan, with a goal of starting construction by late 2026. The 4.03-kilometer extension, featuring three new stations, will run from the current terminus at Yingtao Fude Station (LB12) in New Taipei City to Dannan Station (LB14), where it will connect with Taoyuan’s Green Line, New Taipei City Metro Corp said in a statement. This extension will follow the completion of core Sanying Line, a 14.29-kilometer medium-capacity system linking Tucheng (土城), Sansia (三峽)
CARGO LOSS: About 50 containers at the stern of the ‘Ever Lunar’ cargo ship went overboard, prompting the temporary closure of the port and disrupting operations Evergreen Marine Corp, Taiwan’s largest container shipper, yesterday said that all crew members aboard the Ever Lunar (長月) were safe after dozens of containers fell overboard off the coast of Peru the previous day. The incident occurred at 9:40am on Friday as the Ever Lunar was anchored and waiting to enter the Port of Callao when it suddenly experienced severe rolling, Evergreen said in a statement. The rolling, which caused the containers to fall, might have been caused by factors including a tsunami triggered by an earthquake in Russia, poor winter sea conditions in South America or a sudden influx of waves,
RSS