One restaurant in the Kenting (墾丁) area of Pingtung County’s Hengchun Township (恆春) has begun experimenting with a ban on Chinese tour groups, making its intentions clear with signs, a move that has drawn encouragement from curious Taiwanese tourists.
As a growing number of travel agencies that cater to Chinese tourists find themselves in debt, restaurant owner Wu Po-min (吳柏旻) said he hopes to draw individual foreign and Taiwanese tourists, rather than undercutting offerings for tour groups and lowering standards.
“Bringing annual losses of nearly NT$1 million [US$31,260], Chinese tourists are poison wrapped in honey,” Wu said. “When Taiwan was first opened up to Chinese tourists, business appeared to be great. Every day there would be bus after bus of tourists parked outside. It was an endless stream of traffic and, for a time, lots of money was made.”
“However, in recent years travel agencies have been settling bills on a monthly basis — the nightmare has begun for many restaurants that depend on tourism,” he added.
Large travel agencies often transport busloads of tourists to restaurants for a commission, but in the past couple of years, as these agencies have started going bankrupt, they have been leaving as much as NT$1 million in unpaid restaurant bills, Wu said.
Bankruptcies have been occurring all over Taiwan, with proprietors generally forced to absorb unpaid bills themselves, he said.
“As recent rumors indicate that the number of Chinese visitors is shrinking, we might as well take advantage of the busy summer season to cut off this ill-fated relationship,” Wu said.
Since banning Chinese tour groups earlier this month, Wu said his restaurant has already begun to see an about 30 percent decline in lunch revenue, but added that he sees this as “short-term pain for long-term gain” and feels it is a worthy compromise to maintain high standards.
According to Wu, tourists from other nations and Taiwanese travelers alike have welcomed the change, with some telling him: “Awesome. I do not have to work my way around crowds of loud Chinese tourists to eat — that alone makes it worth it to come here.”
Wu, who took over the family business, said he is happy to have found a way to share his local food and scenery with travelers without the need to pay commissions, get into pricing competitions with other restaurants, or “appease proud Chinese tourists who lack manners.”
Wu said he feels that this is the right path for Kenting businesses and he believes others will follow in his footsteps.
The Ministry of Education (MOE) is to launch a new program to encourage international students to stay in Taiwan and explore job opportunities here after graduation, Deputy Minister of Education Yeh Ping-cheng (葉丙成) said on Friday. The government would provide full scholarships for international students to further their studies for two years in Taiwan, so those who want to pursue a master’s degree can consider applying for the program, he said. The fields included are science, technology, engineering, mathematics, semiconductors and finance, Yeh added. The program, called “Intense 2+2,” would also assist international students who completed the two years of further studies in
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) departed for Europe on Friday night, with planned stops in Lithuania and Denmark. Tsai arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on Friday night, but did not speak to reporters before departing. Tsai wrote on social media later that the purpose of the trip was to reaffirm the commitment of Taiwanese to working with democratic allies to promote regional security and stability, upholding freedom and democracy, and defending their homeland. She also expressed hope that through joint efforts, Taiwan and Europe would continue to be partners building up economic resilience on the global stage. The former president was to first
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Monday called for greater cooperation between Taiwan, Lithuania and the EU to counter threats to information security, including attacks on undersea cables and other critical infrastructure. In a speech at Vilnius University in the Lithuanian capital, Tsai highlighted recent incidents in which vital undersea cables — essential for cross-border data transmission — were severed in the Taiwan Strait and the Baltic Sea over the past year. Taiwanese authorities suspect Chinese sabotage in the incidents near Taiwan’s waters, while EU leaders have said Russia is the likely culprit behind similar breaches in the Baltic. “Taiwan and our European
The Taipei District Court sentenced babysitters Liu Tsai-hsuan (劉彩萱) and Liu Jou-lin (劉若琳) to life and 18 years in prison respectively today for causing the death of a one-year-old boy in December 2023. The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said that Liu Tsai-hsuan was entrusted with the care of a one-year-old boy, nicknamed Kai Kai (剴剴), in August 2023 by the Child Welfare League Foundation. From Sept. 1 to Dec. 23 that year, she and her sister Liu Jou-lin allegedly committed acts of abuse against the boy, who was rushed to the hospital with severe injuries on Dec. 24, 2023, but did not
RSS