Kuomintang Legislator Fu Kunqi asked Minister of Transportation Wang Guocai today when mainland tourists will come. Wang Guocai replied that after understanding through private channels, it seems that they will not come this year. It depends on next year.
The Transportation Committee of the Legislative Yuan arranged fund and budget reports for units affiliated to the Ministry of Transportation on the 16th. Minister of Transportation Wang Cai (middle) accepted a joint interview with the media before the meeting. (Central News Agency)
The Transportation Committee of the Legislative Yuan today arranged fund and budget reports for units affiliated to the Ministry of Transportation, and Wang Guocai attended. In response to a question about when mainland tourists will come to Taiwan, Wang Guocai said that after understanding through private channels, it seems that they will not come this year and will have to wait until next year.
Wang Guocai emphasized to Fu Kunqi that in fact, Taiwan has shown goodwill, but there has been no response from the other side. If Taiwan tour groups are allowed to go to mainland China, but mainland tourists cannot come to Taiwan, it will also have a great impact on Taiwanese accommodation including Hualien.
Fu Kunqi asked again, tourists from Mainland China cannot come now. “During the holidays, many Chinese people go abroad, and the international tourism industry has declined instead of rising. In some cases, it has even dropped by 20% compared with before the epidemic.” Has the government actively dealt with this? He suggested increasing charter flights from abroad to Taiwan as a remedy.
Wang Guocai praised Hualien for doing well in charter flights this year, with direct charter flights from Vietnam, Thailand and South Korea to Hualien. However, Fu Kunqi said that there are only 15 flights with about 1,000 passengers since April. In 2016, Hualien’s charter flights reached 20,000 passengers a year, and the annual output value was NT$650 million. Now it is still far behind.
On August 24, the Mainland Affairs Council announced the conditional lifting of the ban on mainland tourists coming to Taiwan and Taiwanese tourists traveling to mainland China. It will actively prepare for relevant work within one month from the announcement, and will resume cross-strait group tourism depending on the mainland’s response. Wang Guocai believes that China has not responded in kind so far.
Editor: Qin Yingwen
2023-10-16 04:14:10
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