Chinese travel agencies offering high-quality tours must make full payment before they can secure entry permits to Taiwan, the Tourism Bureau said yesterday.
The “pay first, service later” principle represents a major change in government policy, Tourism Bureau Deputy Director-General Chang Hsi-tsung (張錫聰) said.
He said that the Chinese government had agreed in principle to the policy, adding that the two sides are working out the remaining details.
The policy is scheduled to take effect next month, he said.
“The policy is designed to ensure that Taiwanese travel agencies can collect full payment from their Chinese counterparts and that Chinese travel agencies do not keep delaying payment of tour fees, which in turn could help raise the quality of tours for Chinese travel groups,” Chang said.
Chang made the statement at a press conference after the bureau briefed the Executive Yuan on the problems caused by low-priced tours.
Executive Yuan spokesperson Sun Lih-chyun (孫立群) said Premier Jiang Yi-huah (江宜樺) had asked government agencies to work together in devising measures to manage tour groups from China, including controlling the number of registered travel agencies in Taiwan that are licensed to handle tourists from China and inspecting shops frequented by Chinese tourists.
Chinese tourists can either join tours organized by Chinese travel agencies to visit Taiwan or come as free independent travelers. Tours are classified into two types: average and high-quality.
The Tourism Bureau has set specific standards in terms of the meals, accommodation and number of shopping stops offered by high-quality tours.
Chang said that cheap tours offer low-quality service, disrupt market order and give rise to a host of issues, such as shops selling fake products and evading taxes, he said.
The government identified at least 4,000 cases of violations related to shopping by Chinese tourists, Ministry of Finance figures show, with the shops being asked to pay back taxes and penalties topping NT$800 million (US$266,000).
Aside from “pay first, service later” policy, the government is planning to blacklist Chinese tour guides who break the law when accompanying Chinese tourists in Taiwan.
The government is also studying ways to prevent travel agencies whose licenses have been revoked or suspended from offering low-price tour groups by establishing a new travel agency.
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