The Tourism Bureau yesterday rebutted reports that China would eliminate package tours to Taiwan by not issuing licenses for tour leaders to Taiwan.
The bureau made the remarks after a travel association reportedly said the Chinese government has stopped issuing licenses to Chinese tour leaders to Taiwan and that there would be no more qualified tour leaders by late summer at the earliest.
Taipei Association of Travel Agents deputy chairman Ko Mu-chou (柯牧洲) was quoted in a report by the Chinese-language Apple Daily as saying that before the Lunar New Year holiday, about 8,500 Chinese tourists visited Taiwan per day — 4,500 traveling with tour groups and 4,000 as independent travelers.
This number has dropped to about 6,500 per day — with 1,900 to 2,100 joining package tours and about 4,000 traveling independently, Ko was quoted as saying.
The report quoted Taiwan Tourism Development Association secretary-general Tien Yi-hsiu (田一修) as saying that Chinese regulations stipulate that tour leaders must renew their licenses every year and that the Chinese government has stopped renewing licenses for some tour leaders to Taiwan.
Tien said that the Chinese government has stopped renewing licenses this year and said there would be no more package tours to Taiwan after a year, it reported.
Bureau official Liu Shih-ming (劉士銘) yesterday said the Chinese government amended its travel laws in 2016: Under the new law, the government would only issue licenses for tour guides — which would qualify holders to work as tour leaders as well — instead of issuing two separate licenses.
The decision to combine the two licenses was not aimed at Taiwan, as it applies to all package tours in general, he said.
As for reports that the Chinese government has refused to renew licenses for tour leaders to Taiwan, Liu said that Chinese regulations stipulate that tour leaders must have special tour leader licenses to conduct tours to Taiwan.
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