Chinese tour groups are not likely to come to Taiwan until next year, Minister of Transportation and Communications Wang Kwo-tsai (王國材) told the legislature’s Transportation Committee yesterday.
“We have learned through our unofficial channel of communications that [Chinese tourists] are unlikely to come this year. We will see about next year,” Wang told Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Fu Kun-chi (傅崐萁).
The government has since last month allowed Chinese living or studying outside China, or in Hong Kong or Macau, to visit Taiwan for tourism.
Photo: Tu Chien-jung, Taipei Times
The Mainland Affairs Council on Aug. 24 said that it aimed to fully resume cross-strait tourism following a 30-day preparation period, and would cap the number of Chinese group travelers to Taiwan at 2,000 per day in the initial phase, adding that the same daily quota would also apply to Taiwanese tour groups traveling to China.
When cross-strait tourism could resume would depend largely on China’s response to the new policy, the council said.
However, the council said at the end of last month that it has yet to receive any official response from Beijing.
“We must be crystal clear about where we stand on cross-strait tourism issues. We have shown goodwill and would allow Taiwanese tour groups to visit China, but if Beijing only allows Taiwanese to visit China while continuing to impose a travel ban to Taiwan for Chinese group travelers, it would eventually hurt our hoteliers and restaurateurs,” Wang said.
Separately, Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Lee Kun-tse (李昆澤) blamed the Tourism Administration for a lack of growth in international visitor numbers.
The World Tourism Organization has projected that this year’s international tourism market is expected to return to at least 80 percent of pre-COVID-19 levels, up from 63 percent last year, Lee said.
The report also states that the recovery of international tourism in some countries could reach 90 percent of pre-pandemic levels this year, Lee said.
From January to August, Taiwan welcomed 3.82 million international travelers, which accounted for only 48 percent of international arrivals during the same period in 2019, Lee said.
By contrast, 7.34 million Taiwanese had traveled overseas as of August, which was 62.8 percent of the number recorded during the same period in 2019.
In Japan, the total number of inbound tourists had as of August recovered to 70 percent of the 2019 level, Lee said, citing data from the Japan National Tourism Organization.
The number of international arrivals in Japan in August returned to 86 percent of the level recorded in the same month in 2019.
Even if the Tourism Administration could manage to reach its goal of 6 million international tourists visiting Taiwan this year, it would only be 49 percent of the level recorded before COVID-19, Lee said.
Domestic tourism also showed no signs of recovery, Lee said.
The average hotel occupancy rate during the Mid-Autumn Festival long weekend was 49.28 percent, while that for the Double Ten National Day long weekend was 59.93 percent, he said.
Lee said there were several hurdles for Taiwan in attracting international tourists, including difficulties in transiting between different public transport systems, confusing road signs, a lack of characteristics in some tourist attractions and tours with low cost-performance ratios.
In response, Tourism Administration Director-General Chou Yung-hui (周永暉) said that Japan would not have mostly returned to its pre-COVID-19 levels if it discounted Chinese tourists, adding that the devaluation of the Japanese yen also prevented many Japanese from traveling overseas.
“We would increase our offices overseas, which would be in charge of conducting tourism campaigns to attract international travelers,” Chou said.
Three batches of banana sauce imported from the Philippines were intercepted at the border after they were found to contain the banned industrial dye Orange G, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday. From today through Sept. 2 next year, all seasoning sauces from the Philippines are to be subject to the FDA’s strictest border inspection, meaning 100 percent testing for illegal dyes before entry is allowed, it said in a statement. Orange G is an industrial coloring agent that is not permitted for food use in Taiwan or internationally, said Cheng Wei-chih (鄭維智), head of the FDA’s Northern Center for
LOOKING NORTH: The base would enhance the military’s awareness of activities in the Bashi Channel, which China Coast Guard ships have been frequenting, an expert said The Philippine Navy on Thursday last week inaugurated a forward operating base in the country’s northern most province of Batanes, which at 185km from Taiwan would be strategically important in a military conflict in the Taiwan Strait. The Philippine Daily Inquirer quoted Northern Luzon Command Commander Lieutenant General Fernyl Buca as saying that the base in Mahatao would bolster the country’s northern defenses and response capabilities. The base is also a response to the “irregular presence this month of armed” of China Coast Guard vessels frequenting the Bashi Channel in the Luzon Strait just south of Taiwan, the paper reported, citing a
UNDER PRESSURE: The report cited numerous events that have happened this year to show increased coercion from China, such as military drills and legal threats The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) aims to reinforce its “one China” principle and the idea that Taiwan belongs to the People’s Republic of China by hosting celebratory events this year for the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, the “retrocession” of Taiwan and the establishment of the UN, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said in its latest report to the Legislative Yuan. Taking advantage of the significant anniversaries, Chinese officials are attempting to assert China’s sovereignty over Taiwan through interviews with international news media and cross-strait exchange events, the report said. Beijing intends to reinforce its “one China” principle
A total lunar eclipse, an astronomical event often referred to as a “blood moon,” would be visible to sky watchers in Taiwan starting just before midnight on Sunday night, the Taipei Astronomical Museum said. The phenomenon is also called “blood moon” due to the reddish-orange hue it takes on as the Earth passes directly between the sun and the moon, completely blocking direct sunlight from reaching the lunar surface. The only light is refracted by the Earth’s atmosphere, and its red wavelengths are bent toward the moon, illuminating it in a dramatic crimson light. Describing the event as the most important astronomical phenomenon
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