China sends top tourism officials to Taiwan

By Alice Hung

TAIPEI (Reuters) – China’s top official in charge of
tourism began a 10-day visit to Taiwan on Friday, fuelling
hopes the trip could open the floodgates for Chinese tourists
to visit the island Beijing claims as its own.

Shao Qiwei, head of China’s National Tourism
Administration, led a 66-member delegation to see tourist spots
around the island, including the tranquil Sun Moon Lake, the
misty Alishan mountain range and the steep Taroko Gorge.

“I am here for sight-seeing and to feel the environment,
experience the history, culture and religions,” said Shao, who
was greeted at the airport by hosts from Taiwan’s tourism
industry. “I hope to bring high-quality tourists to Taiwan.”

While the Taiwan government has said no official
negotiations will take place during their tour, hopes are high
that it can be a major step toward ushering in Chinese tourists
– a potent economic force, as evident in nearby Hong Kong.

“We hope negotiations can proceed as soon as possible after
they leave,” Joseph Wu, chairman of Taiwan’s policy-making
Mainland Affairs Council, said earlier this week.

China has restricted visits by its citizens to Taiwan since
1949, when the Nationalists under Chiang Kai-shek fled to the
island at the end of a civil war. A limited number of
mainlanders are now able to travel to Taiwan, mostly on
business.

Beijing first offered to let mainland tourists visit Taiwan
in May and called for negotiations with Taipei on the details.

Taiwan has its own tough rules restricting mainland
visitors and bans direct air links on grounds of national
security.

The independence-leaning government of President Chen
Shui-bian has cautiously welcomed Beijing’s offer, saying the
island could accommodate 1,000 Chinese tourists a day and might
allow the tourists to stay for up to 10 days.

Investors, anticipating a visitor boom, have pushed up the
shares of major hotels. Taiwan’s tourism sub-index has risen 30
percent since May, outperforming the overall market’s 2 percent
fall, and some analysts say tourism shares are overvalued,
trading at price/earnings ratios of 20 or 30 times.

TOURISM BOOM?

The government has appointed a private tourism association
to handle talks with Chinese counterparts as Beijing refuses to
deal with the Chen government because of its stance on
independence.

Chinese tourists have proven an economic force in Hong
Kong, boosting retail sales since Beijing relaxed rules on
travel to the former British colony in 2003.

But their impact may not be as significant in Taiwan, where
tourism accounts for less than 3 percent of the economy. Some
analysts estimate Chinese tourists can add at least US$660
million or 0.2 percent, to Taiwan’s US$330 billion economy.

“In the best-case scenario, mainland tourists will boost
hotel occupancy to 80 percent from 65 percent,” said analyst
Chang Wan-chen of MasterLink Securities Investment Advisory.

Taiwan also hopes that giving Chinese tourists a taste of
the island’s free-wheeling democracy will improve often rocky
ties.

“What’s important for the cross-strait relations is that
when there are people who have a chance to visit Taiwan, they
are going to understand Taiwan better,” Wu said.

China has said people from Taiwan made 3.7 million trips to
the mainland in 2004, while only 145,000 Chinese visited
Taiwan.

(With additional reporting by Judy Lin)