Minister of Transportation and Communications Hochen Tan (賀陳旦) yesterday said he had no information confirming that the accidental launch of a Hsiung Feng III missile on Friday last week prompted Beijing to suspend all tourist permits to visit Taiwan, but said the nation saw a significant decline of Chinese tourists in May and last month.
Hochen made the remarks at a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee, at which he briefed lawmakers on issues at the nation’s main airports and government plans to improve transport systems on outlying islands.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lee Kun-tse (李昆澤) said there was a rumor that Beijing would suspend tours by Chinese citizens to Taiwan because of the missile blunder, with the restrictions to begin on July 24.
Lee asked whether there was a further decline in Chinese tourist numbers last month, as May bringing a 12 percent decrease in Chinese tourists compared with the same period last year.
Hochen said that he had no information regarding such Chinese plans.
He said that the Tourism Bureau had yet to finish calculation regarding tourist numbers last month, but said last month’s figures would show a decline in Chinese tourists from May.
Hochen said international tourist numbers in May and last month grew compared with the same periods last year, which showed the government has diversified the sources of international visitors.
Tourism Bureau statistics showed that during the January-to-May period, the number of the international tourists grew by 10.23 percent from the same period last year to approximately 4.61 million.
In that period, South Korean visitors grew by 20.29 percent to 345, 263 from the same period last year, the statistics showed.
Japan, Malaysia, Hong Kong and Macau combined, as well as China, also grew from the year-earlier period, with figures of 19.33 percent, 9.81 percent, 9.45 percent and 5.72 percent respectively, the statistics showed.
The Tourism Bureau said it is intensifying its efforts to attract tourists from Southeast Asian countries, adding that 110 Thai travel agents and journalists arrived on Wednesday to meet with tourism sector representatives to discuss business opportunities.
The bureau said that more Thai tourists came to Taiwan this year after the nation streamlined procedures for visa applications for tourists from Southeast Asia, with people from the region no longer needing to provide a letter of employment and a financial statement to apply for a visa when traveling with designated tour agencies or incentive tours.
They also no longer have to pay a visa application fee, the bureau said, adding that the changes have motivated more Thais to visit Taiwan.
The growth was also due to the availability of flights offered by low-cost carriers, the bureau said.
The number of Thai tourists last year was 124,409, an 18.7 percent rise from a year earlier, it said, adding that Thai visitors in the January-to-May period numbered 70,147, a 40.88 percent rise compared with the same period last year.
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