TAIWAN Tourism Bureau (TTB) has unveiled a series of non-compulsory guidelines for Taiwanese tour operators running tours for visitors from China, who now form the destination’s largest source market.
According to Singapore daily The Straits Times, the new regulations will come into effect in May. Chinese tour groups can only travel 12 hours and 250km in a day, while a minimum of NT$500 (US$17) in total must be spent on lunch and dinner every day. Groups must put up at starred hotels for at least one-third of the trip’s accommodation.
Furthermore, to address a major complaint that there is too much shopping, the number of shopping stops cannot exceed the number of nights stayed. Tour groups are only allowed to make two stops at shops selling expensive wares such as jade.
To encourage tour operators to adhere to the new rules, the tourism bureau will give compliant agencies priority in obtaining exit-and-entry permits for mainland visitors.
The distribution of permits is governed by a daily quota, which currently stands at 4,000 per day though it is expected to increase to 5,000 this year, reported the paper.
According to TTB, almost two million or one-third of Taiwan’s total visitors hailed from China in 2011, adding US$3.8 billion to the territory’s coffers.
