On Monday, the Chinese Tourism Bureau had ignored the issues on the decrease in the number of Chinese mainland visitors, pointing out that the additional NT$42.8 billion income from international tourists had offset the decline on a large scale.
The statement was released by the bureau as a response to local news reports. The total revenue of the country has reportedly decreased to NT$55.8 from the time the Democratic Progressive Party came back to power May of the previous year. The sharp decrease in the number of inbound mainland Chinese tourists is pointed as the main contributing factor to the revenue drop.
However, tourism officials said that the number of tourist arrivals from other countries had a sweeping 1.06 million annual increase in the same period.
Thai tourists had the highest annual growth of 57.26 percent. Tourists from Vietnam ranked second with a 34.33 percent rise, followed by South Korea, Japan and Malaysia with 34.25 percent, 16.5 percent and 9.95 percent increase, respectively.
Officials attributed the significant growth rates in foreign tourist arrivals from other Asian countries to the bureau’s efforts to expand its markets to diverse countries.
The bureau is now focusing on expanding Chinese travel market by promoting Taiwan to Europe and North America. Travel agencies which cater services chiefly to Chinese mainland tourists can also avail of assistance offered by the bureau.
In related news, Chang Chih-ben, chairman of the Taichung Tour Bus Association, said that at least 1,000 tour buses are now up for sale around the island.
Chang said in an interview with China Times that the decrease in the number of tourist groups from mainland China and the carrying out of the “One Fixed Off, One Flexible Day Off” labor policy are responsible for the bus sales.
He added that some tourist bus companies had attempted to use their buses in paying off bank loans. However, their efforts were unsuccessful as creditor banks expressed little interest on the buses.
The Tourism Bureau is directing its efforts to diversify its markets with the decline of mainland visitors.