Numbers disappoint after Taiwan opens to solo tourists from China

Aug 8, 2011, 11:31 GMT

Taipei - Arrivals of independent tourists from China to its once bitter rival Taiwan have fallen well below the ceiling of 500 per day since they were first allowed six weeks ago, officials said on Monday, a sign that barriers to entry may be too high.

Just 1,440 mainland Chinese had reached Taiwan as of Sunday for self-guided tours that were expected to be wildly popular as a way to see the once forbidden island without the strict guidance of group tours. Taiwanese merchants had also looked to the solo tourists as a way to improve business.

Of that total, 282 people came on the ceremonial first day, June 28. China and Taiwan, despite six decades of political hostilities, broke the ice in 2008 under the island's conciliatory President Ma Ying-jeou with a raft of trade and transit agreements, group tourism among them.

But as merchants griped that tour groups were favouring only a few vendors in Taiwan, the two sides began allowing solo travel from June despite increased risks of spying or permit overstays for illegal work on the wealthier island.

China still claims sovereignty over self-ruled Taiwan and insists on eventual unification. It has not ruled out the use of force to push its agenda.

Travellers need time to get used to the idea of solo expeditions after three years of nothing but group tours, said Liu Te-shun, deputy minister of the government's China policymaking body the Mainland Affairs Council.

'The process is new,' Liu said. 'Some are not used to individual travel, so we're in an adjustment period.'

Group tours normally cover five to 10 attractions within a week, generating complaints among tourists that they cannot meet common Taiwanese people or see offbeat attractions. The disappointing solo traveller headcount may signal longer-term problems with convenience, costs or even safety, analysts fear.

People from only three well-off Chinese cities - Beijing, Shanghai and Xiamen - are allowed to visit Taiwan on their own, and they must prove annual wages equal to at least 17,000 dollars or 7,000 dollars in savings, two factors controlling the number of arrivals.

Solo travel also costs more than group tours without the benefits of travel agencies arranging bulk hotel deals, noted Alexander Huang, strategic studies professor at Tamkang University in Taiwan.

Mainland Chinese agencies also make less money on arrangements for independent travellers compared to groups, said Anthony Liao, standing supervisor with the Taipei Association of Travel Agents.

'They won't see high profits, as air tickets and hotel rooms don't add up,' Liao said. 'So it could be the solo travellers are being softly coaxed into joining tour groups.'

Some would-be travellers to Taiwan may also be afraid for their safety, with a dislodged rock, a construction site mishap and several major traffic accidents killing mainland Chinese group tourists over the past three years, Huang said.

But 3,201 more mainland Chinese have applied to visit Taiwan, the immigration agency said, a figure that officials say may herald more interest in the island.

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