Mainland tourists love visiting Taiwan  Starting February, 500 more group tour quotas to Kinmen, Matsu, and Penghu daily

Travel Center / Comprehensive Report

Group tours from mainland China to Taiwan are all the rage in the Chinese travel industry, with group quotas fully booked, but the number of groups entering via outlying islands is limited; thanks to efforts by legislators from Kinmen, Penghu, and Lienchiang County, it is expected that starting February, around 500 more group tour quotas to the outlying islands of Kinmen, Matsu, and Penghu will be added daily.

Currently, Taiwan has a total cap on the number of mainland tourists entering the country at 4,000 per day, but county governments of the outlying islands believe that the number of mainland tourist groups arriving via outlying islands is limited; to boost tourism capacity in the outlying islands, they hope to increase the group quotas for Kinmen, Matsu, and Penghu.

Yang Ying-hsiung, legislator for Kinmen County, said that after negotiations, the executive branch promised to increase the daily quota of mainland groups entering Taiwan via outlying islands by 500 in the first phase, to promote the outlying islands’ tourism industry, with implementation expected to begin February 1; however, the National Immigration Agency stated that related software modifications will require system integration to be completed by April 1, so for the initial two months, the Tourism Bureau may handle cases individually. (News source: Central News Agency)