New | Taiwan tests the high-end mainland Chinese tourism market
New travel scheme promises fast-tracked entry permits for mainland Chinese tourists, but with one caveat: they must spend more money on hotels and food
Millions of mainland Chinese tourists visit Taiwan every year, but 12 who came in May stood out.
This group, from Jiangsu province, of 50-something company executives stayed at one of Taipei's most expensive hotels, then in a five-star resort on the island's east coast. Each person paid 8,800 yuan for the six-day trip.
They made a splash, attracting media attention as Taiwan's first "high-end tour group", to use the wording of government officials who created the tourism programme under which they visited Taiwan.
The new scheme fast-tracks entry permits that might otherwise take 40 days. In return, the tourists stay in five-star hotels for two out of every three nights, spend at least NT$1,500 a day per person on lunch and dinner combined and travel by tour bus no more than 250km per day - allowing for more time on the ground.
High-end trips such as these are expected to raise the income of the Taiwanese hospitality sector. The new offer also invites tourists considered less likely to shout, litter or drive hard bargains with merchants - growing sources of irritation among the Taiwanese who seldom saw mainland Chinese before 2008.
"It was the first time I had never seen a smoker on a tour bus," said Hai Ying-lun, whose firm Pro Tour planned itineraries for the group of 12. "And, they had come with experience travelling abroad."