Cross-Straits tensions hurt Taiwan tourism
Nearly 20,000 people from tourism-related industries took to the streets in Taipei on Monday, calling on the Tsai Ing-wen administration to revive the tourism industry amid a sharp decline in tourist arrivals from the Chinese mainland.
The drop in mainland tourists reflects strains in cross-Straits relations that emerged after pro-independence leader Tsai took office in May. Unlike her predecessor Ma Ying-jeou, Tsai has yet to acknowledge the 1992 Consensus, which emphasizes the one-China principle.
Protesters from 11 tourism-related sectors, including hotels, travel agencies, bus companies and tour guides, chanted the slogan "we want to live, to have jobs and to have enough to eat and wear" during the protest on Monday in Taipei.
They carried placards which read, "Don't let tourism become a dead business," and "People on both sides of the Taiwan Straits are of one family."
Lee Chi-yueh, spokesperson of the Tourism Industry Alliance, which organized the demonstration, was quoted by the Taiwan-based The China Post as saying that the purpose of the demonstration was to express "in a rational manner" the difficulties the tourism industry is experiencing under the current circumstances.
Lee said that if the Taiwan administration does not take action to curtail the drop in tourist arrivals from the mainland since the Tsai administration took office, it will create additional problems for Taiwan' s society.
Statistics from Taiwan's tourism bureau showed that around 300,000 mainland tourists visited Taiwan in July, down 15 percent from the same period last year.
Mainland tourists make up 40 percent of the tourists visiting the island every year, the Straits Times reported.
Zhang Hua, an assistant research fellow at the Institute of Taiwan Studies of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), told the Global Times that Taiwan's tourism is suffering from Tsai's political policies and the situation would not improve as long as Tsai refuses to recognize the 1992 Consensus.
Unwelcoming attitude
At least two Beijing-based travel agents confirmed with the Global Times that the number of tourists planning to go to Taiwan for the upcoming three-day-long Mid-Autumn Festival holiday and the weeklong National Day holiday has dropped markedly. They cited the less friendly environment as a reason.
In June, a video clip went viral in the mainland in which a woman in Taiwan insulted a veteran by calling him "a shameless China refugee" and demanding that he "scram back to the mainland."
Zhang said that Tsai's administration and her Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) have adopted a hostile attitude toward mainland tourists, which has led to instances of disrespectful behavior.
Hu Benliang, an associate research fellow at the Institute of Taiwan Studies of the CASS, told the Global Times that a string of incidents including the deadly tour bus crash in Taipei and some Taiwan media reports smearing the mainland also disappointed tourists.
Twenty-three tourists and a tour guide from the Chinese mainland were killed in July when their bus crashed into a barrier on a highway and caught fire near Taiwan's Taoyuan Airport.
Taiwan authorities released the findings of their investigation on Saturday, saying that the bus driver purposely crashed the vehicle after quarreling with his wife who had decided to return to the mainland.
Pressured by the public, Tsai may adopt some measures, including subsidies and tax breaks, to pacify Taiwan's tourism industry, but it could not recover the economic loss, said Zhang.
Tsai Chi-chang, vice president of Taiwan's Legislative Yuan, told Taiwan media on Thursday that mainland tourists have been used by mainland's united front department as a leverage and the administration should try to attract more tourists from Japan, South Korea and Southeast Asia.
However, both Hu and Zhang agreed that these measures would have limited effect on Taiwan's tourism since Chinese mainland tourists comprise the biggest part of the industry.
Much of the tourism industry's income depends on tour groups from the mainland since they spend an average of 7.5 days on the island while tourists from other places spend an average of 3.5 days, The China Post reported, citing Lee.
