Mainland top tourism officials visit Taiwan
(Reuters)
Updated: 2005-10-29 09:33

The independence-leaning government of "President" Chen Shui-bian has cautiously welcomed Beijing's offer, saying the island could accommodate 1,000 Chinese tourists a day and might allow the tourists to stay for up to 10 days.

Investors, anticipating a visitor boom, have pushed up the shares of major hotels. Taiwan's tourism sub-index has risen 30 percent since May, outperforming the overall market's 2 percent fall, and some analysts say tourism shares are overvalued, trading at price/earnings ratios of 20 or 30 times.

TOURISM BOOM?

The government has appointed a private tourism association to handle talks with mainland's counterparts as Beijing refuses to deal with the Chen government because of its stance on independence.

Mainland tourists have proven an economic force in Hong Kong, boosting retail sales since Beijing relaxed rules on travel to the former British colony in 2003.

But their impact may not be as significant in Taiwan, where tourism accounts for less than 3 percent of the economy. Some analysts estimate mainland tourists can add at least US$660 million or 0.2 percent, to Taiwan's US$330 billion economy.

"In the best-case scenario, mainland tourists will boost hotel occupancy to 80 percent from 65 percent," said analyst Chang Wan-chen of MasterLink Securities Investment Advisory.

The mainland has said people from Taiwan made 3.7 million trips to the mainland in 2004, while only 145,000 mainlanders visited Taiwan.