Sun Yafu (left), deputy director of the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, Su Shulin (center), governor of Fujian province, and Du Jiang (right), deputy director of China National Tourism Administration, take part in the opening ceremony of the 7th Straits Travel Fair on Tuesday in Xiamen, Fujian province. Wang Jing / China Daily
Tourism industry insiders from Taiwan and the mainland have high hopes for their annual travel fair.
"We think we need to strengthen the cooperation between Taiwan and the mainland to make people better understand each other," said Chou Ching-An, director-general of the business and tourism department of Yilan county government of Taiwan.
The 7th Straits Travel Fair, which runs from Sept 6 to 11, is part of the annual China International Fair for Investment and Trade held in Xiamen, a coastal city in East China's Fujian province.
The mainland and Taiwan tourism authorities will sign a cooperation declaration to boost development of the tourism industry during the fair.
Since the opening of the Taiwan tourism market to mainland residents in 2008, the number of individuals traveling to Taiwan has not been as high as expected, said Chen Zhifu, deputy director of the National Association for Rural Tourism of Taiwan.
"It might be caused by the strict and complex application process. We hope the travel fair will help us better promote tourism resources in Taiwan," he said.
This year's Straits Travel Fair includes exhibitions of travel products and resources, meetings on tourism investment projects and the Cross-Straits Tourism "1+1" (Business Travel Agent Matchmaking) Fair, a one-day event that aims to help develop cross-Straits travel ties and establish a platform for the travel industry that leads to mutual benefits.
"Compared with last year, the event this year has attracted more players in the tourism industry and highlights more diversified programs," Chen Yangbiao, deputy director-general of the Fujian Provincial Tourism Bureau said at a news conference.
According to Chen, more than 600 companies, including travel agencies, hotels, aviation companies and hotel product providers, have registered for the event this year.
During the fair the Fujian provincial tourism bureau will also sign a series of cooperative agreements with the China Development Bank, its counterpart in Qinghai province, and Hanatour, South Korea's largest travel agency, and China Mobile to push its tourism development.
"We are determined to develop Fujian into a leading travel destination for people from Taiwan," Chen said.
Since the opening of Taiwan tourism to the mainland residents, the Fujian authority has so far opened five direct sea routes to the island and nine cross-Straits travel destinations for Taiwan residents.
