President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) says the Transportation Ministry is currently discussing plans to revive cross-strait tourism and will make a public announcement once the plans are set. Her remarks came at the opening ceremony for the 17th annual Taipei Tourism Expo held at the Taipei World Trade Center.
The expo will run for three days, starting on Friday, featuring 700 booths of different travel agencies, airlines, countries, and local and international vendors. The expo was put on hold for three years due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Tsai says she hopes cross-strait relations will gradually recover to a healthy exchange,which includes tourism. Beijing banned Chinese tourists from traveling independently to Taiwan in August 2019 and Taiwan banned Chinese tour groups in 2020 due to the pandemic. Taiwan has not lifted the ban amid tense geopolitical relations with China.
Last Friday, China announced it will allow tour groups from Taiwan, effective immediately. Tourism Bureau chief Chang Shi-chung (張錫聰) says regulations should be reciprocal and discussed through existing channels. He says he looks forward to talks between both side’s official tourism associations.