The Tourism Bureau yesterday said it would implement “quality, not quantity” policies after rumors that the Chinese government would this month cut the number of tour groups allowed into Taiwan.
Academics were cautiously supportive of the statement, but said that China might attempt to pass price rises resulting from a potential change in policy on to Taiwanese travel agencies in the form of handling fees.
The bureau said the rumors have yet to be confirmed, citing an increase of Chinese tourists in January compared with December last year, adding that the National Immigration Agency Web site showed a backlog of entry visa applications by Chinese groups stretching to March 20 and beyond.
Chinese visitors in January totaled 366,000, compared with 320,000 in December last year, the bureau said.
Visitors on the free independent travel program helped maintain visitor numbers, while Chinese tour groups over the Lunar New Year break, numbering 6,507 people, exceeded the count posted over the Lunar New Year last year, the bureau said.
The bureau said plans were in the pipeline to scale up the ratio of “quality” tour groups.
Formerly only comprising of one-third of all groups entering Taiwan, the bureau is mulling requiring two-thirds of all tour groups to adhere to “quality group” standards: a daily minimum of NT$500 to be spent on lunch and dinner and one-third of the group’s lodgings to be in hotels with at least a one-star rating, the bureau said.
Tourism Bureau Director-General David Hsieh (謝謂君) said the change in policy was aimed at cracking down on price manipulation from agencies benefiting from large groups attracted by cut-throat pricing, adding that the bureau was not considering loosening the limits on the number of Chinese tourists allowed entry per day in the foreseeable future.
However, Sunrise Travel Service president Ko Mu-chou (柯牧洲) urged the government to ease restrictions on the number of Chinese visitors allowed entry.
With politics looming over cross-strait interactions, Chinese authorities have enough ways to cut the number of people visiting Taiwan without Taipei doing their job for them, Ko said.
Former Travel Agent Association of Taiwan secretary-general Hsu Kao-ching (許高慶) said the tourism market might enter a vicious cycle of price undercutting if the present situation of tourism being a political bargaining chip becomes ingrained.
Meanwhile, academics said that if the number of Chinese tourists drops, it could spark a period of “growing pains” for travel agencies reliant on Chinese tour groups.
Tour agencies will want to develop disparate travel routes and offer better service, Shih Hsin University professor Chen Chr-ji (陳墀吉).
It is also a warning to the tourism industry that it should not rely solely on Chinese tour groups, Chen said.
Chen said that travel agencies should focus on attracting tourists to make subsequent visits, suggesting that in-depth tours and having tours feature local or folk customs as the primary attraction, would go a long way toward enticing people to revisit Taiwan.
In addition, academics and the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) suggested looking elsewhere for tourists, especially among ASEAN members.
Providence University professor Huang Cheng-tsung (黃正聰) said fast-tracking visa applications for tour groups from Southeast Asia would compensate for even a 30 percent reduction in the number of Chinese tourists in the coming year.
The bureau is negotiating with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on expediting Southeast Asian tourist visa applications to reduce processing times from 14 days to seven days, adding that the bureau was targeting an increase of 130,000 Southeast Asian tourists to Taiwan this year.
The DPP said that it is looking to promote visa-waiver programs or visa-on-landing programs with more countries.
The DPP said it is mulling a tourism-oriented “iTaiwan Pass” that combines the functions of the EasyCard and the iPass payment systems used in northern and southern Taiwan respectively to facilitate expenses for foreigners during their time in Taiwan.
The DPP said it would not lower the quotas on Chinese tourists allowed entry, but is looking into increasing the ratio of Chinese tourists on free independent travel programs or quality groups in the hope of alleviating the crowds of Chinese tour groups clogging up tourist hotspots.
Additional report by Su Fang-ho
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