Travel Agent Association (TAA) chairman Yao Ta-kuang (姚大光) asked Chinese travel service providers yesterday to reject any deal that promises to offer package tours in Taiwan for less than US$80 per day.
“Please understand that this is a reasonable minimum charge [per day],” he said. “We will also regulate our own travel agencies and discipline anyone who rips off customers.”
Yao further assured the Chinese firms that the Tourism Bureau would take “strong administrative measures” to prevent malicious competition among travel agencies in Taiwan.
Yao said that he hoped that there would be 3,000 Chinese tourists arriving each day starting on July 18.
He also advised the Chinese government to regulate their travel agents, as he has heard some Chinese travel agents had started asking their Taiwanese counterparts for 500,000 yuan (US$73,000) before they would send any Chinese tourists.
Yao made the remarks at a seminar yesterday afternoon, where 39 Chinese travel service representatives who have been touring the nation in the past 10 days were scheduled to share their thoughts and observations before they leave tomorrow.
Former TAA chairman Johnson Tseng (曾盛海) reminded the Chinese representatives that the tour they have been on would cost at least US$200 a day.
The representatives, who are from all over China, arrived on June 16 to acquire first-hand information that would help them design tours for their customers.
While most of the representatives said Taiwan has sufficient resources for the arrival of Chinese tourists, they were some practical suggestions for improvement offered during the seminar.
One of the Chinese representatives said that hotels receiving Chinese tourists should provide shampoo and other toiletries, while the tour buses should provide small pillows or blankets for passengers.
He also said that Chinese travel agents need to be provided with a table of estimated travel times between cities so that they can plan their schedules more accurately.
As Chinese tourists generally prefer food with a strong taste, restaurants should also prepare vinegar or other condiments for them, he said.
He also asked the Taiwanese tour guides to arrange for Chinese tourists to stop at stores selling a variety of products to avoid any shopping disputes.
Another representative said that restaurants should provide less seafood and more local Taiwanese cuisine.
She said that Alishan and Sun Moon Lake were also the favorite scenic destinations of local tourists and expressed concern that hotels in those areas may not have enough rooms to accommodate the influx of Chinese guests.
She also complained that there were not enough trash cans at some of the scenic spots. The parking lots at the spots may not have the capacity for so many extra tour buses, she said.
Still another representative said she wondered if Taiwan had enough quality tour guides to lead the Chinese tour groups.
Taipei and New Taipei City government officials are aiming to have the first phase of the Wanhua-Jungho-Shulin Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) line completed and opened by 2027, following the arrival of the first train set yesterday. The 22km-long Light Green Line would connect four densely populated districts in Taipei and New Taipei City: Wanhua (萬華), Jhonghe (中和), Tucheng (土城) and Shulin (樹林). The first phase of the project would connect Wanhua and Jhonghe districts, with Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall and Chukuang (莒光) being the terminal stations. The two municipalities jointly hosted a ceremony for the first train to be used
MILITARY AID: Taiwan has received a first batch of US long-range tactical missiles ahead of schedule, with a second shipment expected to be delivered by 2026 The US’ early delivery of long-range tactical ballistic missiles to Taiwan last month carries political and strategic significance, a military source said yesterday. According to the Ministry of National Defense’s budget report, the batch of military hardware from the US, including 11 sets of M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) and 64 MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile Systems, had been scheduled to be delivered to Taiwan between the end of this year and the beginning of next year. However, the first batch arrived last month, earlier than scheduled, with the second batch —18 sets of HIMARS, 20 MGM-140 missiles and 864 M30
Representative to the US Alexander Yui delivered a letter from the government to US president-elect Donald Trump during a meeting with a former Trump administration official, CNN reported yesterday. Yui on Thursday met with former US national security adviser Robert O’Brien over a private lunch in Salt Lake City, Utah, with US Representative Chris Stewart, the Web site of the US cable news channel reported, citing three sources familiar with the matter. “During that lunch the letter was passed along, and then shared with Trump, two of the sources said,” CNN said. O’Brien declined to comment on the lunch, as did the Taipei
A woman who allegedly attacked a high-school student with a utility knife, injuring his face, on a Taipei metro train late on Friday has been transferred to prosecutors, police said yesterday. The incident occurred near MRT Xinpu Station at about 10:17pm on a Bannan Line train headed toward Dingpu, New Taipei City police said. Before police arrived at the station to arrest the suspect, a woman surnamed Wang (王) who is in her early 40s, she had already been subdued by four male passengers, one of whom was an off-duty Taipei police officer, police said. The student, 17, who sustained a cut about