China-Taiwan strike tourism deal
BEIJING China Taiwan have signed historic agreements to establish regular direct flights and allow more mainland tourists to visit the island
The deal means there will be direct cross-strait flights every weekend, instead of just during holiday periods.
Negotiators from Taipei last week held their first formal bilateral talks since 1999 at a state guesthouse in the Chinese capital
In a ceremony broadcast live on Chinese state television, they signed a deal to boost transport and tourism links Weekend passenger flights will begin on July 4.
Previously direct flights were limited to four holiday periods each year. On other days, cross-strait travellers had to fly via Hong Kong or Macau
From July 18, each side will also allow in 3,000 tourists per day – a move that triples the number of mainland Chinese who will be allowed into Taiwan
Tourism Bureau held a banquet to welcome a delegation of Chinese travel agents.
“The arrival of mainland tourists is like a downpour on sun-dried land. This is the aspiration of the people in both Taiwanregion and the mainland,said Janice Lai, director of the bureau
She said Taiwan would try its best to guarantee quality of service to Chinese tourists so that they could enjoy their stay in
Eastern China Southern and Air China are vying to take advabtage of the new opportunities.
Stanley Hui, CEO of Airport Authority Hong Kong, said the expansion of direct, weekend charter flights across the Taiwan Strait from July would have an impact on the number of passengers transferring through Hong Kong between and the Chinese Mainland in the short to medium term.¡¨
In addition, the Sichuan earthquake may reduce Mainland people’s desire to travel, both internationally and to Hong Kong. We will continue to monitor the market closely in the coming months,†Hui added Hong Kong International recorded steady growth in May 2008, with passenger volume increasing 8.3 percent over May 2007, to 4.1 million.
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