Taiwan tours upgraded for mainland visitors  

大陆提升赴台游品质 严控旅游购物时间

为顺应两岸旅游业的发展要求，全面提升大陆赴台游的服务质量，中国国际旅行总社最新推出台湾品质游服务标准：大陆游客赴台游的购物次数不得超过行程天数的一半，每次不超过60分钟。这是记者7日从该旅行社举行的“唯美台湾”统一标准及产品推介会上获悉的。

Beijing (CNS) -- China International Travel Service (CITS) recently rolled out new standards for quality Taiwan tours, according to information released at a "Beautiful Taiwan" promotion event on Friday.

The new standards strictly limit time spent on shopping for mainland tourists: The number of shopping stops should not exceed half the number of nights they would stay in Taiwan, and time spent at each stop should be limited to an hour.

The move is aimed at meeting the demands of the booming tourism industry across the Taiwan Strait and raising the service quality of Taiwan tours, CITS said.

Since Taiwan opened its door to mainland tourists 4 years ago, the number of mainland tourists traveling to the island has continued to grow.

In 2012, the number exceeded 1.97 million, a year-on-year increase of 57.6 percent. Statistics from Taiwan show that the Chinese mainland has overtaken Japan as the island's biggest source of inbound tourism, with 36 percent of Taiwan's visitor arrivals coming from the mainland.

As more mainland tourists flock to Taiwan, problems such as rising customer complaints, declining services and failing safety guarantees have gradually emerged.

The new standards fall into five major categories: transportation, catering, accommodation, shopping and itinerary. Tourists should only make purchases at shops approved by the Tourism Bureau (MOTC) or recommended by the Association for Tourism Exchange Across the Taiwan Straits. At least NT$500 ($17) must be spent on lunch and dinner each day. Accommodations should be arranged at four-star or five-star hotels or special hotels of the same grade. Travel itineraries should focus on regional travel, theme travel or exotic travel.

In addition, the new standards also include working time and distance limits for tour bus drivers, and GPS installation in all tour buses.