• By Shelley Shan / Journalist

The Executive Yuan should allow at least 1 million Chinese tourists to visit Taiwan a year to boost tourism revenue and maintain peace across the Taiwan Strait, experts said at a panel discussion held by the Taiwan Strait yesterday. National Policy Foundation.

Taiwanese made 11.8 million trips abroad last year, with total spending exceeding NT$713.4 billion ($21.93 billion), according to Tourism Administration data .

In contrast, international travelers made only 6.48 million visits to Taiwan last year, spending an estimated NT$269.8 billion, the data showed.

Photo: David Chang, EPA-EFE

The tourism revenue gap between outbound and inbound travelers reached NT$443.6 billion last year, an increase of NT$71.7 billion from the level before the COVID-19 pandemic in 2019.

About 11.8 million international tourists arrived in 2019, including 2.71 million Chinese, the data showed.

Although the government has set a goal of attracting at least 10 million international tourists this year, Minister of Transport and Communications Chen Shih-kai (陳世凱) told lawmakers it could only attract about 8 million.

Experts participating in the discussion hosted by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) think tank attributed Taiwan’s growing tourism deficit to a relatively slow recovery from the pandemic as well as the government’s ban on group travel in China and the issuance of a travel alert for China.

Beijing only allows tourists to travel to Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties through group tours and still prohibits group tours and individual trips to Taiwan proper.

Taiwan does not prohibit individuals from traveling to China.

China was the largest source of foreign travelers in 2019, even though cross-strait relations were strained during former President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) first term, Ringo Lee (李奇嶽) said. , president of the High Quality of Travel Association.

“The production value generated by Chinese tourists was twice that of Japanese and South Korean tourists and three times higher than that of Southeast Asian tourists, because their length of stay was twice as long ” Lee said, adding that the government needs to find tourists from other countries to make up the deficit.

The Democratic Progressive Party government’s mishandling of cross-strait relations has further aggravated tensions and pushed China to launch two large-scale military exercises this year, Lee said, adding that this has become the main reason for which many international travelers feel Taiwan is not a safe place. to visit, in addition to earthquakes and typhoons.

Chinese tourists spend an average of US$250 per day on a trip to Taiwan, twice the amount spent by tourists from Japan and South Korea and five times the amount spent by tourists from South Asia. East, said Lee Ming-hui, president of the China Tourism Management Association (李銘輝). ) said.

The resumption of cross-Strait tourism could boost the economy in various localities and create jobs, Lee Ming-hui said.

Lee Ming-hui also criticized the government’s new southbound policy, for which a large amount of subsidies have been provided to attract tourists and students from Southeast Asia.

“These grants could attract students and tourists from Southeast Asia to study and travel to Taiwan for a short time. However, these subsidy-driven programs could ultimately deplete Taiwan’s foreign reserves and are unsustainable,” he said.

Lee Ming-hui asked how the Tourism Administration calculated the number of international tourists, which he said includes the return of foreign nationals already living, studying and working in Taiwan.

The government has set the bar low, knowing that Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong and Singapore all record more than 10 million international visitors each year, he said.

“It would be a national shame if Taiwan could not welcome 10 million international tourists a year,” he said.