By MOOK Travel Life Network, Li Xinyi, compiled and reported
The pilot cities for mainland residents’ free independent travel to Taiwan were first opened in June 28 of last year, including Beijing, Shanghai, Xiamen, Tianjin, Chongqing, Nanjing, Guangzhou, Hangzhou, and Chengdu. The Tourism Bureau of the Ministry of Transportation announced that starting August 28, four more cities—Jinan, Xi'an, Fuzhou, and Shenzhen—will be added, bringing the total to 13 mainland pilot cities whose residents can travel to Taiwan independently. Since the opening of free independent travel for mainland visitors to Taiwan up to July this year, the cumulative number of arrivals has exceeded 107,000, averaging 266 arrivals per day.
Starting August 28, residents of Jinan, Xi’an, Fuzhou, and Shenzhen will be eligible for independent travel to Taiwan. (Photo provided by MoCA Editorial Department)
The 4th Cross-Strait Tourism Exchange Roundtable Conference was held at the Crowne Plaza Kaohsiung. In addition to deciding to open four more cities for independent travel to Taiwan, the conference also expanded the “Mini Three Links” free independent travel to Kinmen, Matsu, and Penghu. Originally, residents of nine cities in Fujian—Fuzhou, Xiamen, Zhangzhou, Quanzhou, Putian, Sanming, Nanping, Longyan, and Ningde—were allowed to travel independently to these regions. This year, 11 more cities will be added: Wenzhou, Lishui, and Quzhou in Zhejiang; Meizhou, Chaozhou, Shantou, and Jieyang in Guangdong; and Shangrao, Yingtan, Fuzhou, and Ganzhou in Jiangxi. This brings the total to 20 cities across four provinces in mainland China eligible for Mini Three Links independent travel to Kinmen, Matsu, and Penghu, also set to launch on August 28.
Regarding the issue of travel quality for mainland tourists visiting Taiwan, Xie Weijun, Chairman of the Taiwan Strait Tourism Association, also stated that in the future, efforts regarding accommodation will include increasing the proportion of star-rated hotels that mainland tour groups must stay in for a certain number of nights, in coordination with the expansion of star hotel certifications. To enhance the safety of tour bus operations, highway authorities have established disaster warning mechanisms for key road sections and bridges in cases of floods or typhoons. When specific alert levels are reached and roads are closed, closure alerts will be immediately sent via SMS to the receiving agencies and tour guides handling mainland tour groups, allowing timely itinerary adjustments and avoidance of dangerous roads and bridges.
Taiwan is actively developing its cruise tourism market. Particularly this year, it began implementing an incentive program where foreign cruise companies bringing over 250 passengers will receive a subsidy of $10 to $25 per passenger based on the number of arrivals. From January to July this year, 32 international cruise ships have visited Taiwan. The conference also mentioned the strategic complementarity between Taiwan and mainland China's cruise homeports, with plans to establish a “Greater Taiwan Strait” cruise route.
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