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Taiwan tourism sector set for mainland wave

By Xing Zhigang (China Daily)
Updated: 2008-07-08 07:42

NANTOU, Taiwan: When more than 40 mainland tourists swarmed into his Hsiang-hsi Restaurant near the Sun Moon Lake for lunch on Sunday, Chang Shui-yuen started getting nervous.

The restaurant near the popular tourist attraction in central Taiwan found it difficult to keep up with the crowd.

Chang had to rope in his son and daughter to help serve dishes.

Visitors take a group photo whiling touring Sun Moon Lake in Taiwan, July 6, 2008. A group of 760 Chinese mainland tourists started a historic journey to Taiwan last Friday and was warmly welcomed at every stop around the island. [Xinhua]

"I have been expecting more mainland tourists," said Chang, 61, a native of Nantou.

"But now that they are here, I suddenly feel we don't have enough time on our hands."

The restaurant owner was referring to the arrival of the first mainland tour group to the island on Friday, in what has been hailed as a milestone in closer cross-Straits exchanges.

More than 750 mainland tourists from five cities - Beijing, Shanghai, Xiamen, Nanjing and Guangzhou - landed in Taiwan on a weekend charter flight, the first of regular cross-Straits ones in almost six decades.

Taiwan has restricted trade and travel with the mainland since 1949, but the island's new leader, Ma Ying-jeou, has helped open doors to warmer ties.

In a sign of rapprochement, the two sides last month held their first direct talks in a decade and signed agreements to launch the flights and triple the number of mainland people allowed to visit the island to 3,000 daily.

Chang said his restaurant is expected to double its income with the increase in mainland tourists.

He is one of the 100,000 people working in the island's tourism sector who are expected to benefit from the travel arrangement, which will be officially implemented on July 18.

Taiwan Association of Travel Agents Chairman Yao Ta-kuang estimated that 3,000 mainland visitors arriving daily will bring in 60 billion Taiwan dollars ($1.97 billion) annually.

A recent industry poll also forecast that the mainland tourist arrangement will help generate an annual average growth of 12 percent in Taiwan's tourism revenue in the coming three years, compared with a yearly growth of 5 percent over the past three years.

The revenue will benefit half a million people in all service-related sectors on the island and 2 million people, if their family members are included, Yao said.

Henry Tsang, a sales supervisor with the China Times Travel Service, said the latest travel arrangement is a much-needed boost for the island's sagging economy, including its slow-growing tourism industry.

Last year, the number of travelers to Taiwan reportedly stood at only 3.7 million, in stark contrast with the 28 million Hong Kong had.

Due to Taipei's restriction on travel for mainland tourists, only 300,000 mainlanders visited Taiwan last year. The number of mainland Chinese who visited Hong Kong last year was 15 million.

"It's significant for us. We cannot afford to lose the opportunity if we want to revitalize our ec

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