Travel agencies that have not benefited from the opening to Chinese tourists yesterday accused the Travel Agent Association (TAA) of handing a list to China’s China International Travel Service (CITS) stipulating which travel agencies in Taiwan are and are not allowed to arrange trips for Chinese tourists.
Since the opening of increased tourism, only a dozen of the nation’s 177 certified travel agencies have handled arrangements for Chinese tourists, travel agents said, adding that interested parties may be attempting to monopolize the market.
The travel agencies said that when CITS applies for Chinese tourists to visit Taiwan, they must provide a list of the travel agencies in Taiwan who will receive the tourists.
In response to the allegations, the TAA and Tourism Bureau said no list of tourist agencies had been handed to CITS. Bureau section chief Chang Hsi-tsung (張錫聰) said the number of Chinese visitors entering the country was not enough for every agency to reap the benefits.
If you divide the number of Chinese tourists entering the country by the number of travel agencies in Taiwan that are certified to handle them, it is not surprising that some travel agencies are left empty-handed, Chang said, adding that these agencies mistakenly believed that they had been blacklisted.
Chang said he believed that more travel agencies would gradually see the benefits of Chinese tourists.
TAA secretary-general Hsu Kao-ching (�?y) said that whether a travel agency receives business or not depends on business skills and marketing, adding that he had no knowledge of any blacklist.
Meanwhile, some travel agencies expressed concern about working with businesses in China to arrange trips for Chinese tourist groups.
Some agents said off the record that they were concerned that Chinese travel agencies would exploit the competition among Taiwanese travel agents to increase their own profits. It was still too early to know whether the influx of Chinese tourists would bring significant profits, they said.
Japanese travel agencies were willing to pay top dollar for good quality and services, they said, but it may be hard to get a decent price from tough-bargaining Chinese travel agencies.
Local travel agents said it would not be wise to put all their eggs in one basket, adding that they would continue to seek tourist groups from other countries.
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