Taipei – More than 50 representatives of the Chinese travel industry will visit golf courses around Taiwan during the upcoming Cross-Strait Travel Industry Forum slated for Feb. 25 to design Taiwan golf tour packages, said Taiwan’s Travel Agent Association (TAA) on Monday.
TAA Secretary-General Roger K.C Hsu said that as most of the restrictions on visits to Taiwan by Chinese have been lifted, the travel industries from both sides wish to develop and design new travel packages.
Close to 50 members of the Chinese delegation will visit golf courses located mainly in the western part of the island to design golf tour packages that will later be promoted in China, said Hsu.
“We hope to attract more Chinese golfers to Taiwan in the future as the local green fee is in many cases cheaper than those in Chinese golf courses,” said Hsu.
In addition, Hsu said that as the climate in central and southern Taiwan is suitable for golf all year round, the island has already received numerous groups of Chinese golf players in the past few months.
Although Taiwan’s golf tour market is still relatively small compared to other Asian countries, with the recent opening of direct transportation links between China and Taiwan, Taiwan’s travel industry is expecting a rapid increase in the number of Chinese golf lovers in Taiwan, said Hsu.
According to Hsu, travel industry representatives from both sides of the Taiwan Strait will gather in Taipei for the first time on Feb.
25 to discuss market development and to help mainland industry professionals become more familiar with the Taiwan market.
Meanwhile, Hsu said that delegates from 30 Chinese provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities, and more than 450 members of China’s travel industry are expected to attend this year’s cross-strait travel forum.
Serving as this year’s organizer, Taiwan’s Travel Quality Assurance Association (TQAA) has arranged an eight-day trip for the Chinese delegation to travel to scenic areas located on the eastern and western parts of Taiwan to get a firsthand look at Taiwan’s tourism resources, said Hsu.
According to the TQAA, Shao Qiwei, chairman of China’s National Tourism Administration, will attend the forum in his capacity as chairman of the Cross-Strait Tourism Exchange Association and is scheduled to meet with his Taiwanese counterpart, Janice Lai, director-general of the Tourism Bureau under the Ministry of Transportation and Communications.
However, the TQAA said that Shao will only remain in Taiwan for four days, adding that the vice chairman of China’s National Tourism Administration Du Jiang will lead the Chinese delegation for the remaining four days of the evaluation trip.
