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From July 18 Taiwan will open its borders for the first time to up to 3,000 visitors per day from the mainland. The tourists will be subjected to a number of restrictions. The tourism agreement between the mainland and Taiwan stipulates no gambling by Chinese tourists in Taiwan.

The agreements on charter flights means that tourists from the mainland will only be able to travel only with tour groups.

The travel agencies that arrange the the trips will not be allowed to arrange any activities that have to do with gambling or pornography, although pornography was not defined.

Managers from mainland travel agencies traveled to Taiwan to see the various hotels and transportation options available to tourists. They also were working on packages that could be offered to their customers.

The agreement that is in place will send a maximum of 3,000 Chinese tourists a day to Taiwan. 36 charter flights will be available at weekends.

In Taiwan the Mainland Affairs Council said visitors from China will have to a fixed travel schedule. The duration of stay will initially be limited to ten days. Prospective visitors will also have to show they have assets equivalent to $6,500 when applying for their permit to travel.
Sources: Casino Gambling Web and Radio Taiwan International

author Gareth Powell, source www.chinaeconomicreview.com

The mainland and Taiwan are holding  talks paving the way for regular weekend charter flights and tourism.

Meeting will be, for the mainland, the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS) — the main channel for talks with the island — with its Taiwan counterpart, the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF), which said it accepted the proposal for the meeting ‘with willingness’ which is pretty encouraging.

The two issues on the agenda have been discussed by related trade organizations many times and some consensus has been reached and it is possible that cross-Straits weekend charter flights will allow mainland tourists to visit Taiwan in the near future. It is quite possible that some sort of an agreement might be signed before the end of the week.

Ma Ying-jeou of KMT (seen in our illustration in victorious mode), who was recently sworn in as the island’s leader, has proposed starting regular direct charter flights across the Straits as early as July, and letting as many as 3,000 mainland tourists visit the island daily.

The rushed schedule for the resumption of dialogue was specifically established to help Ma fulfill his campaign promises that nonstop cross-strait charters on weekends and the arrival of more Chinese tourists in Taiwan would begin by July 4.

Yang Kai-huang, a professor at Ming Chuan University’s Department and Graduate School of Public Affairs, contended that Beijing would seize the historic opportunity presented by the next four years (with the KMT’s Ma Ying-jeou as Taiwanese president) and actively improve ties with Taiwan.

The key premises allowing Taiwan and the mainland to return to the negotiating table are Ma Ying-jeou’s declaration of not pursuing Taiwan’s de jure independence from the mainland and accepting the so-called ‘1992 Consensus’.
Sources: China Daily and Asia Times and Taiwan News

author Gareth Powell, source www.chinaeconomicreview.com

It seems likely that with the easing of tensions between the mainland and Taiwan then we can look forward to something of a tourist boom. Hoteliers and guides and restaurants plainly think this is a good thing.

However, the prospect of a mainland tourist invasion has not been view throughout with unalloyed delight.

Skeptics say only a few privileged businesses would benefit, and that the island’s scenic spots could be spoiled by greedy developers and a tourist stampede.

Long off-limits to the mainland Taiwan is now popular among mainland tourists for its scenery, preservation of Chinese tradition and for historical sites.

Chinese tourists were first officially admitted to Taiwan in 2002. But visits are capped at 1,000 a day, and tourists must travel to the island via third locations because of restrictions on direct cross-strait flights.

If Ma Ying-jeou, the president-elect, (seen looking dashing in our illustration) has his way, that will change.

Ma, who takes office on May 20, has promised to reach an agreement on more Chinese tourists and weekend cross-strait charter flights by early July, expanding to weekday charters by the end of the year and regularly scheduled flights by summer 2009. All this is part of his election pledge to stimulate the island’s laggard economy with closer cross-strait economic ties.

Under the plan, the cap would be tripled to 3,000 Chinese tourists a day, or more than 1 million per year. Last year, 320,169 mainlanders visited Taiwan, only 81,900 of whom officially came as tourists. The rest were listed as business travelers or ‘others.’

In a few years, Ma hopes, the cap could rise to 10,000 tourist visits per day.

Tourist revenues will have benefits throughout the economy, he says, especially helping lower- and middle-income Taiwanese in the service sector.

The investment bank CLSA estimates that if 1 million Chinese tourists visit Taiwan each year they will spend $1.3 billion, and help boost GDP by up to 1.4% of 2007 levels.

Not everyone has such a rosy view. Some point out that the economic benefits will not be spread around, because Chinese tend to travel to Taiwan in regimented tour groups that only stop at contracted businesses.
Source: NewsWire

author Gareth Powell, source www.chinaeconomicreview.com