High prices cool desire for individual tours to Taiwan

Hangzhou (CNS) -- Hangzhou citizens can apply for a visa to Taiwan at the local entry-exit office starting on Monday, freeing them to visit Taiwan individually.

According to a deal reached between organizations on both sides of the Straits, residents of Tianjin, Chongqing, Nanjing, Hangzhou, Guangzhou and Chengdu now are allowed to travel without guided tour services in Taiwan.

Presently, nine travel agencies in Zhejiang Province are qualified to offer trips to Taiwan, but the individual trip is more expensive than a group tour. Zhu Gguangming, in charge of one travel agency in the city, said because tourism agencies usually provide better hotels and other services for individual travel packages, it is more pricey to arrange.

In Zhu's opinion, individual trips to Taiwan will not become a hot trend for the next half year or so, as the majority of interested parties are hesitating while they observe what happens to the market's prices.