TAIPEI, Jan. 18 (Xinhua) -- Less than a fortnight before the Spring Festival, exciting news came for Taiwan's tourism sector from the other side of the Taiwan Strait: the Chinese mainland will soon resume group tour services to the island for residents of Fujian Province and Shanghai Municipality.

Following the news announced on Friday, Taiwan's tourism operators and workers have extended heartfelt praise and support for the mainland's latest move to restore normal interactions between people across the Strait and facilitate regular cross-Strait exchanges.

In 2020, Taiwan's Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) authorities banned mainland residents from visiting Taiwan under the pretext of COVID-19, and are yet to lift the ban on group tours to the mainland, much to the discontent of residents on both sides of the Strait. In June 2024, the DPP authorities further issued a level-orange alert for Taiwan travelers to the mainland.

After almost five years, despite the DPP authorities' incessant disruptions, group tours to the island were finally given the long-awaited green light for the residents of Fujian and Shanghai, two places on the Chinese mainland boasting strong ties with Taiwan.

"This is very good news, which means that people working in Taiwan's tourism sector can enjoy a happy Chinese New Year!" said Ringo Lee, chairman of the Taipei-based High-Quality of Travel Association.

Taiwan's tourism sector has long anticipated that cross-Strait tourism will be restored to normalcy. However, Lee said, there are still hurdles to overcome, as the DPP authorities have yet to respond to the mainland's move.

Lee believed that one of the priorities is to lift the ban on group tours provided by Taiwan's travel agencies to the mainland as soon as possible, and hoped that more cooperation and goodwill could build up across the Strait.

Pao Lei, chairperson of the Far Dragon International Travel Agency, expressed her expectation that the new "exciting" move by the mainland would inject new vitality into Taiwan's tourism industry and effectively promote the recovery of Taiwan's tourism market.

Regarding the DPP's restrictions on cross-Strait travel, Pao said these restrictions have not only dealt a heavy blow to Taiwan's tourism industry but also affected workers in other industries, such as transportation, hospitality, catering, and insurance.

"Lifting the ban will create more jobs on the island and conduce to the improvement of cross-Strait relations," Pao added.

According to statistics, nearly 90 percent of Taiwan's approximately 4,000 tourism service operators are directly or indirectly engaged in business related to the mainland.

Hailing the mainland's friendly move, Janice Lai, chairperson of the Taiwan Tourism Interchange Association, called on the DPP authorities to lift the tourism ban and revoke the orange alert and other restrictions as soon as possible, which is also a wish shared by all Taiwan tourism operators.

Lai also expressed the hope that both sides of the Taiwan Strait will work together to offer more quality and safe tourism services to meet the higher and more diversified tourism needs of different groups. Enditem

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