Vice Transport Minister Wu Men-feng says that the number of tourists arriving in Taiwan this year is unlikely to break the record set in 2015.
Wu was speaking before the Legislature’s Finance Committee on Wednesday. A drop in the number of Chinese tourists expected to visit Taiwan this year is a major factor behind Wu’s prediction.
Earlier in the year Taiwan’s transport minister projected that the drop in Chinese tourist arrivals could reach 30%.The decrease in China tourism began around the time of Taiwan’s presidential elections.
Some Taiwanese media outlets have read the trend as part of a deliberate move by Beijing designed to put pressure on President-elect Tsai Ing-wen. Tsai’s Democratic Progress Party is perceived as being wary of China. Spokesman for China’s Taiwan Affairs Office, An Fengshan, said in February that the fall in the number of Chinese tourists visiting Taiwan is simply a function of the tourism market.
Meanwhile, during the Finance Committee hearing Wednesday, chief secretary of the Tourism Bureau Tsai Ming-ling said that Taiwan is working to make up for the shortfall. He said that Taiwan is developing the Japanese, Korean, and Southeast Asian tourist markets as alternatives to Chinese tourism.