Is Taiwan really ready for the hordes of mainland tourists that want to come here? Will there be a lot more of those terrible incidents like what happened last week? Where a tourbus went on its side and killed a few tourists because they were rushing to meet a very rushed schedule??
Mainland tourists are being forced to shop and shop and shop some more and travel the island in like 4 days?? This is inhumane treatment of anyone.
they have got to come up with VERY STRICT guidelines. Even dogs wont be put up to such a disgraceful tour schedule.
Tommy 525 is talking about the incident last week in which the tour guides apparently brought a busload of Chinese tourists from shop to shop to shop, and the tourists accused the tour guides of being brought off by the stores. They insisted on complaining and spent 3 hours at a police precinct (or was it elsewhere) to complain. In an effort to catch up with the rest of the itinerary, the bus sped up and it resulted in a deadly accident in which 6 were killed and more were injured.
It was grave, and I feel terrible because a vacation is supposed to be a fun thing but…
…You get what you pay for, not only in Taiwan but in anywhere on the planet. I cannot believe these were expensive tours or those that were at least decently compensated for, hence the trickery.
In Florida there are free tours too (or nearly free). They’ll either send you from shop to shop to shop, or try to sell you timeshares. In the East Coast, there are the very cheap Chinatown transportation buses. Since their money from slim shavings off bulk customers and not individuals, the rush causes a few accidents every year and at least one each year is deadly.
EDIT: Mr Boogie below mentions these in Thailand as well. Again, from my experience, the cheap ones are the worst. When you’re looking for a good tour bus service, please, do the research and spend the cash. If you’re not going to pay for the service, then expect the travel agency to find another method to make money at your expense. These are not non-profit corporations.
well, I heard that the chinese tourists are complaining more and more because most of their travel agencies (not only to Taiwan, but to Thailand and other places) are giving them low price packages that are consisted of 80% shops, 20% tourism. Even saw one news that a travel guide in Thailand left the whole pack alone because they refused to go to the 1201729127th shop. This is a general problem with the Chinese travel agencies who have to finance themselves by making agreements with the shopkeepers. I kind of remember 10-15 years ago in Portugal there was a boom in free visits to Spain (you just had to show up there), where you coulnd’t take drinks or food, and in the middle of the trip there would be 300 products being presented to the tourists, until complete boredom. Luckily, most of them where “killed” because the consumers association stepped in and made the advertisements simply inedible for anyone (like they would have to detail every operation that would be carried out).
That’s because the tour guides in Taiwan get a kick back from the shops where the tourist shop. The reason for this is because the packages are sold too cheaply, or more specifically the cost of coming from a third country for PRC tourist makes it difficult to make a profit for most tour agencies in Taiwan. Especially after splitting the commision with the third country party.
Now a solution that the DPP administration could adopt to help out the local Tourist industry is to lift the restriction on PRC tourist needing to come from a third country. Then the Tour guides in Taiwan could make a descent profit and not be dependent on “shopping spree kickbacks” so much.
But knowing the DPP and CSB, when it comes time to act in the interest of the working class on Taiwan or toe some idealogical interest, we know in advance where CSB stands. He would rather make life difficult for Taiwanese fishermen and Taiwanese tour guides, than give up his blessed “Taiwanese not Chinese” nonsense.
It’s not like CSB has to bust his butt doing real work anymore, he even has his whole family doing the dirty work now.
I think the problem exists. The question is, what’s the proposed solution? Is it to keep out the mainland tourists, or is it time to impose standards on Taiwanese tourism?
Hong Kong and other ASEAN nations face the same issue, as mr_boogie mentioned above. In Hong Kong, travel agencies that host these tours are subject to severe sanctions if/when they occur. The same needs to be true in Taiwan. I played tourist in western/southern Europe earlier this summer, and I saw “hordes” of content mainland tourists in Venice and Paris. The problem isn’t that difficult to solve.
[quote=“dearpeter”]Sounds like the golden tourist triangle of India (Delhi, Agra, Jaipur).
Maybe they could set up “protest tours” so mainlanders could live out their fantasies of protesting the CCP.[/quote]
HAHA i got a laugh out of this one. But however, you can be sure at least one of the “tourists” will be some sort of spy and when those peeps get back to the mainland??? watch out !!
I’ve travelled much of mainland China as a tourist, just out of a sense of curiosity about my country. Chongqing and Xi’an (especially 6 years ago) weren’t exactly glamour tours, either, but I still enjoyed’em very much. If given the chance to visit and really appreciate Taiwan, I absolutely would. A visit to the National Palace Museum would be a highlight.
I’ve travelled much of mainland China as a tourist, just out of a sense of curiosity about my country. Chongqing and Xi’an (especially 6 years ago) weren’t exactly glamour tours, either, but I still enjoyed’em very much. If given the chance to visit and really appreciate Taiwan, I absolutely would. A visit to the National Palace Museum would be a highlight.[/quote]
i heard that up to a third of everyone in China would like to visit Taiwan at some point because they couldnt for so long !! Whether they keep coming back tho? Thats something else.
I have no idea if that number is valid… but just wanted to point out a 3rd of everyone in China would be 400 million people.
Taiwan’s stated goal is to bring in 5 million “foreign tourists” per year. 400 million mailnand Chinese would fill up Taiwan’s quota for almost the next century.
I have no idea if that number is valid… but just wanted to point out a 3rd of everyone in China would be 400 million people.
Taiwan’s stated goal is to bring in 5 million “foreign tourists” per year. 400 million mailnand Chinese would fill up Taiwan’s quota for almost the next century.[/quote]
400 million would sink the whole island back into the ocean no?
actually i dont think the National Palace Museum can hold a torch to the new museum in Shanghai…i was so impressed by that i went back the next day for a repeat run…partly i guess its the presentation but wow theres some nice stuff going back 8000 years…the only time when i could have heard the phrase “5000 years of culture” and not want to puke…
on a side note it’s surely time for the NPM to hand back a hefty share of it’s collection…it can only display 10% of the stuff at anyone time; how many vases do you really need in storage anyway?
I have no idea if that number is valid… but just wanted to point out a 3rd of everyone in China would be 400 million people.
Taiwan’s stated goal is to bring in 5 million “foreign tourists” per year. 400 million mailnand Chinese would fill up Taiwan’s quota for almost the next century.[/quote]
400 million would sink the whole island back into the ocean no?
actually i dont think the National Palace Museum can hold a torch to the new museum in Shanghai…i was so impressed by that i went back the next day for a repeat run…partly i guess its the presentation but wow theres some nice stuff going back 8000 years…the only time when i could have heard the phrase “5000 years of culture” and not want to puke…
on a side note it’s surely time for the NPM to hand back a hefty share of it’s collection…it can only display 10% of the stuff at anyone time; how many vases do you really need in storage anyway?[/quote]
ah maybe thats the plan of the CCP? send 400 million compatriots to the island ALL AT ONCE?? There will be no Taiwan Independence then? And you can bet ur bum that the NPM is NOT going to send back a thing !!! its OURS all OURS we took em fair and squre (along with most of the gold)
For once, I have to agree with the Taiwan independence dudes. It’s time for the treasure in NPM to go back to its original museums in China. Of course, it could be on loan to NPM on a sister museum arrangement.
P.S. I also think and know many Chinese antiques around the world, in museums and private collections, need to be returned to China. It’s just a matter of time.
Last weekend I was at a fancy 3000NT/night hot spring hotel in Zhiben (Chih-pen or however the hell it’s Romanized) down in Taidong. Got in the elevator with a friend, another Taiwanese couple, and a couple of drunk, northern mainland tourists. The two mainland guys were rambling about getting some more booze or something with a very -r -r -r accent. You should have seen the way that other couple flinched when they heard that accent. Hilarious.
The Chinese guys got off on the third floor, whereupon I launched into my mainlander impersonation. “这位同志充满雷锋精神…” which got everyone on the elevator laughing hysterically.
The next day, on the way down in the elevator, several elderly tourists get in the elevator. After seeing a big nose there, they all start talking into each other (not me, but to each other) in awkward English. As we get off, my friend tells me that they’re obvious mainlanders as well because they’re wearing their tour group badges in the hotel while going to breakfast.
Personally, I’d love to have more mainlanders travelling around in Taiwan. Bring on the hijinks.
Out of all the destinations in southeast Asia, why would anyone prefer Taiwan over Indonesia, Malaysia, Laos, Vietnam, or Thailand?
That’s right, no sensible person would. That’s why Taiwan should stick to what it does best: make money here and tour Asia elsewhere. It’s 5x as expensive as its closest neighbor (the Philippines) and much less pretty…there is only one serious tropical beach on the entire island, as compared to say Malaysia which has literally thousands, for $2 beach cottages a night…no tourist in their right mind would pick Taiwan over that!
we took em fair and squre (along with most of the gold) 
