More independent mainland Chinese tourists are set to begin visiting Taiwan later this month following the latest regulatory easing announced by the ROC Mainland Affairs Council.
Qualified residents from the mainland Chinese cities of Chengdu, Chongqing, Guangzhou, Hangzhou, Nanjing and Tianjin will be greenlighted to visit Taiwan as solo visitors from April 28. They join those from Beijing, Shanghai and Xiamen on the list, which is scheduled to grow to 13 with the addition of Fuzhou, Jinan, Shenzhen and Xi-an by year-end.
“This move is expected to boost Taiwan’s tourism industry and promote cross-strait exchanges,” a MAC official said April 1. “We view the change as another step in improving Taipei-Beijing relations as well.”
With more mainland Chinese cities included in the program, the MAC will double the daily cap on independent tourists to 1,000. Since the program commenced June 28, 2011, more than 56,000 mainland Chinese have visited Taiwan.
The MAC also plans to begin working with central and local government agencies and the local tourism sector on a number of complementary measures such as enhancing service quality, travel safety and streamlining application procedures.
As part of this process, the Tourism Bureau under the Ministry of Transportation and Communications will organize Taiwan tourism seminars and promotion campaigns in the program’s mainland Chinese cities. (JSM)
