Chinese tourists to crowd Taiwan during New Year

Travel agencies denied a UDN report alleging that tourist groups from the mainland will drop by half during the upcoming holidays, and emphasized that crowds of tourists from mainland China are expected to travel throughout the island, occupying hotels in central, southern and eastern Taiwan from Feb. 15 to Feb. 18.

Hsu Kao-ching, secretary of the Travel Agent Association of R.O.C, Taiwan, said that most of the Chinese tourists will arrive in Taiwan on Feb. 14 (Jan. 1 in Chinese lunar calendar), after enjoying traditional feasts with their families on the Chinese Lunar New Year's Eve.

Unlikely to reach the eastern coast on the day of arrival, they will visit the east in the following days, resulting in high occupancy rates for hotels in Hualien and Taitung, he added.

Problems arranging hotel accommodations may arise as thousands of Chinese tourists arrive. Very few hotel rooms are free for the period between Feb. 15 and Feb. 18; the remaining available rooms are mostly in the north for Feb. 14, Hsu explained.

Hotels in northern Taiwan have benefited significantly from the incoming Chinese visitors, with occupancy rates of 70 percent or higher this year, compared with a rate between 20 and 30 percent in the past, according to Hsu.

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