A mainland tourist surnamed Xiao (in wheelchair), prepares to go to Taiwan with her family at Beijing Capital International Airport on Tuesday. [Photo / China Daily]
Taipei / Beijing - The first group of individual tourists from the mainland arrived in Taiwan on Tuesday, bringing more business opportunities to tourism enterprises on both sides of the Taiwan Straits.
The 290 tourists started their adventures in Beijing, Shanghai and Xiamen, a port city in East China's Fujian province facing Taiwan. The three cities have been selected for the pilot travel program.
In Beijing, 61 tourists aboard Air China Flight CA185, which took off at 8:35 am, arrived in Taipei three hours later. Prior to that, 46 people from Xiamen, who first took a ship to Jinmen and then flew over the Straits, became the first people from the mainland to land on the island as individual tourists in more than half a century, according to Chinanews.com.
The visitors will be able to stay on the island for 15 days mainly for sightseeing, according to regulations released by the National Tourism Administration.
Previously, tourists from the mainland were only allowed to travel in groups and had to follow scheduled tour routes. Now, they have more freedom in arranging their trips.
Yang Lude, who has visited the island twice, said she will be able to cross the destinations that are usually crowded with tourists off her itinerary.
"I have been to those places already. I'm expecting more casual moments in Taipei, for food and shopping," she said.
Yang, who used to be an exchange student and studied on the island, said she will also be able to hang out with old friends.
Fan Feizhou, a 37-year-old Beijing resident, had high hopes about his one-week journey.
The owner of a medical appliances enterprise, he plans to investigate local businesses and talk to potential business partners.
He also intends to make a visit to the National Taiwan University in Taipei, where his grandfather was once a member of the faculty.
A mainland tourist poses for a photo in front of the well-known Taipei 101 Tower on Tuesday. People are now able to go to the island as individual tourists. [Photo / China Daily]
"Although he has passed away, I can at least see his former workplace with my own eyes, take pictures and remember him," he said.
Xiao Hong, general manager of the Taiwan travel business with China Travel Service, told China Daily that individual travel will appeal to both young and middle-aged tourists.
"Taiwan is a fascinating destination with both modern fashion and folk culture, which is attractive to young people and backpackers," she said. The market will be different to the group tours, which were mostly popular with the elderly.
AP reported individual tourists are expected to generate up to NT$19.5 billion ($673 million) in additional tourism income each year, according to the local authorities. The average spending of mainland tourists in Taiwan was $138 a day last year, providing a significant boost to the tourism industry in Taiwan, said People's Daily.
Lin Chun-Shiu, vice-commissioner in charge of tourism in New Taipei City, in northern Taiwan, told China Daily the island's most northerly city is prepared for what may be a surge in tourism.
She said free guidebooks in simplified Chinese will be provided to promote the city's DIY tour routes and special events that could appeal to visitors, such as the Hohaiyan Rock Festival in July, which brings together local and international music fans at the city's Fulong beach.
The tourism office also opened an official account on Sina Weibo, one of the leading Chinese micro-blogging sites, to market its tourism spots for mainlanders.
Yang Fan, director of the tourism market management department at Shanghai Municipal Tourism Administration, told China Daily that Shanghai and Taipei will sign a memorandum next month to make sure individual trips are safer. A better channel to deal with tourists' complaints will be set up and public hotlines will deal with tourists' emergencies.
In addition to tourism, some tourists will eye business opportunities and take medical tours.
A Xiamen tourist surnamed Fei is among them.
"I am traveling in Taiwan alone partially for fun, but also to look at some properties," she was quoted as saying in The China Post, an English newspaper based in Taipei.
As for Shanghai businesswoman Hu Xiaoyun, her Taiwan visit will include a medical examination.
She was greeted by four nurses when she was getting off the plane and was sent to Shin Kong Wu Ho-su Memorial Hospital, where she received cancer screening, according to The China Post.
The Chinese mainland is the biggest source of visitors to the island. Last year, more than 1.63 million mainland Chinese visited Taiwan - most of them on group tours - a rise of 67 percent from a year before, according to the Taiwan tourism authority.
Those who try to stay on the island illegally will be returned to the mainland and might be banned from entering Taiwan for three years, according to the Beijing Public Security Bureau.
