With about two weeks left before Chinese free independent travelers (FIT) are allowed to visit Taiwan, travel agents yesterday said they were still unclear about the regulations governing applications for travel permits on behalf of the Chinese visitors.
Chinese National Tourism Administration Director Shao Qiwei (邵琪偉) told the annual Straits Forum, which opened in Xiamen, Fujian Province, yesterday, that Chinese FITs would be able to start touring Taiwan from June 28.
According to the forum’s official Web site, Shao said tourists from Beijing, Shanghai and Xiamen would be the first to be allowed to travel independently during a trial period for the FIT program.
Shao said Taiwan and China had agreed that residents in Fujian Province would be permitted to travel to Taiwan’s outlying islands — Kinmen, Matsu and Penghu.
It remains unclear whether Green Island (綠島), Taitung County, will be included, as reports last week said the Chinese government had removed the island from its list of package tours because of the presence of anti-communist slogans, which some Chinese tourists have reportedly found “offensive.”
Following Shao’s announcement, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications and the Tourism Bureau said they had yet to receive all the relevant information on the matter.
The Mainland Affairs Council said it would not comment on Shao’s remarks. However, it said the goal of launching the FIT program at the end of this month remained unchanged.
Travel agents said they welcomed the announcement and were ready to greet the FITs.
However, Travel Agent Association of ROC, Taiwan (中華民國旅行商業同業公會全國聯合會) secretary--general Roget Hsu (許高慶) said most travel agents were still unfamiliar with the regulations concerning the application for travel permits on behalf of Chinese FITs.
“In its presentation to travel agents on Friday, the National Immigration Agency did not say whether the application should also include travel insurance and SIM cards for emergency use only,” Hsu said. “Should the agency decide to issue electronic visas, does that mean it will be solely -responsible for reviewing and approving the applications? All these questions remain unanswered.”
Some travel agents also criticized the agency’s plan to make them guarantors for Chinese FITs in case they overstay their 15-day visas or abscond.
The package tours Chinese FITs will be able to purchase from airlines, as well as the itineraries enclosed in travel permit applications, generally do not contain many details, they said. As a result, it is virtually impossible for local travel agents to guarantee that Chinese FITs will not overstay their visas.
Under the current framework for the program, a daily maximum of 500 independent Chinese tourists will be allowed to enter the country.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY STAFF WRITER
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