Wang Tsung-wei, a cab driver in Taipei, has yet to give a ride to a single mainland tourist, despite expectations of a surge of visitors after a ban on individual travellers was lifted on June 28.
'The government said our business would increase when it allowed solo mainland tourists to visit, but where are they?' Wang asked.
Similar questions have been asked by operators of high-end department stores who have not seen a rise in sales over the past month.
According to statistics released by the Taiwanese Tourism Bureau, just 633 solo mainland tourists travelled to Taiwan in the first month of such visits. Excluding the first day, when 280 individual mainland tourists arrived, the average number of such visitors was about 12 a day, far short of the 500-per-day ceiling permitted by the island's government.
Unenthusiastic travel agencies and too much red tape may explain why so few mainland tourists opted to visit the island outside of tour groups, market operators said.
'It takes at least one to one-and-a-half months to prepare the required documents, including financial statements, household registration records, approval from the mainland police and processing from Taiwanese immigration, making it far too troublesome for solo tourists to come visit,' said tour operator Royce Wang, whose business includes organised visits to Taiwan for mainlanders.