FEWER than expected Chinese FITs travelled to Taiwan in July, the first month that individual travellers from mainland China were allowed to visit the country on FIT visas (TTG Asia e-Daily, June 27).
Even though the number of FIT visas issued is limited to 500 per day and restricted to residents of Beijing, Shanghai and Xiamen, only 1,440 Chinese FITs had travelled across the Taiwan Strait as of August 7.
This was much better, though, than the figure recorded for the whole of July, when only 587 made the trip.
“That first month was bad, bad, bad” said Roget Hsu, secretary-general of the Travel Agent Association of the Republic of China, Taiwan.
Hsu said Taiwanese inbound operators were not inclined to take on too many Chinese customers because of relatively lower margins. “Travel agents here don’t like working with Chinese tours. The tour fees are too low, so there is little or no profit,” he said.
Kitty Wong, president of Taipei-based K&A International, cited a few other hurdles facing mainland Chinese who might want to visit Taiwan.
“These people might live and work in Beijing or Shanghai, but to get a travel permit, they must return to and apply in their hometown,” she explained.
“They also lack the basic information. The Chinese government blocks websites that end in .tw.”
By Glenn Smith
