The Tourism Bureau is considering alternatives to Alishan (阿里山) as potential attractions for Chinese tourists in central Taiwan, as access to the mountain resort remains difficult in the wake of Typhoon Morakot.
So far, only nine-seater vans are allowed to ride on the partially reopened road to the Alishan National Scenic Area — two months after flash floods triggered by the typhoon brought the Alishan Forest Railway to a halt and seriously damaged the mountain roadway.
SITOU, SHANLINSI
Tourism Bureau Director-General Janice Lai (賴瑟珍) said the bureau will introduce the Sitou (溪頭) National Forest Recreation Area in Nantou County and the nearby Shanlinsi (杉林溪) Forest Recreation Area as alternatives for Chinese tourists who intend to visit Alishan — a favorite tourist destination in Taiwan.
Changhua County’s Lugang (鹿港), known for its more than 300-year-old Longshan Temple, is also on the bureau’s list of alternatives.
“The scenic attractions of Sitou and Shanlinsi are on a par with Alishan with similar coniferous forests, while Lugang offers the charms of a Taiwanese fishing port in addition to its rich cultural legacy as an old town,” said Liu Hsi-lin (劉喜臨), chief secretary of the Tourism Bureau.
IMPRESSED
Liu said he has recently taken representatives of China’s travel sector to Sitou and Shanlinsi to acquaint them with the areas and found his guests very surprised and impressed by what they saw.
“The crisis at Alishan could be an opportunity for other tourist areas, like Sitou, Shanlinsi and Lugang,” Liu said.
Meanwhile, since only nine-seater vans are allowed to drive up to Alishan, the bureau has encouraged local travel agencies to arrange smaller tour groups from Japan and Europe to take trips there.
REBOUND
Responding to concerns that the number of Chinese tourists visiting Taiwan has declined in recent months, Lai said she expects the numbers would rebound after a delegation of 500 Chinese officials in charge of tourism and executives of travel agencies visit Taiwan at the end of this month for a cross-strait travel fair to be held at the Taipei World Trade Center.
NUMBERS
Chinese citizens have been allowed to go on sightseeing tours of Taiwan since July.
Taiwan in principle allows no more than 3,000 Chinese nationals to visit Taiwan per day.
In April, an average of 3,280 Chinese tourists entered Taiwan per day.
That number fell to 1,500 per day in May and has averaged about 1,000 since, Tourism Bureau statistics showed.
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