Free travel for Beijing, Shanghai tourists first

The idea of free travel for Chinese tourist reportedly came up in a meeting between the Fujian Provincial Tourism Bureau, Taiwan Strait Tourism Association and Yang Jui-tsung, Taiwan Strait Tourism Association's representative in Beijing. The Fujian tourism bureau suggested that tourists from Fujian serve as trial visitors to allow Taiwan to monitor the flow of a new travel system.

The response of Taiwan association representatives yesterday, according to local media, indicated it was unlikely to explore this possibility. Choosing tourists from Fujian for the trial travel would do little to boost tourism revenue and would not help in monitoring visitor behavior, a source revealed.

However, news leaked that the most likely cities targeted for free travel were Beijing and Shanghai. According to an informed source, there will be a very limited number of Chinese tourists allowed for free travel at first and the cities from which they come will also be restricted. Beijing and Shanghai are cities so populous that allowing tourists from there alone would prove to be a huge task and the test trial will not likely commence until next July or August.

The projected number of Chinese visitors this year, including for business, is 1.5 million, a 50 percent increase from the 970,000 tourists reported last year.

With Premier Wu Den-yih's approved initiative to allow 100 high-level Chinese businessmen free travel in the nation, the relaxed tour schedules for regular tourists will require much cooperation and planning from the Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) and must factor in health, transportation and customs.

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