The government has announced a crackdown on substandard tour packages. Cabinet spokesperson Tung Chen-yuan said Wednesday that the crackdown will target packages that shuttle people to shops to make up for the low prices of the tours. The crackdown will seek to end the practice of shops giving kickbacks to tour operators for bringing tourists there.
The crackdown comes as Taiwan’s tourism industry struggles to overcome a drop in tourist arrivals from Mainland China.
"We’re going to strengthen monitoring of low quality tours and packages that link tours unethically with shops," said Tung. "We will issue punishments in accordance with the law and will give the Ministry of Finance help with inspections on taxes. We want to help the tourism industry become disciplined and prevent low-quality tourism."
Tung also said the government will work on promoting solo travel to Taiwan.