Agreement paves way for individual travel to Taiwan
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People on the Chinese mainland will be allowed to travel to Taiwan without the services of a tour group starting in April, a sign of that the cross-Straits relationship is improving, the Beijing Daily reported Monday.
The trial program will be available in Beijing and Shanghai and up to 500 people would be permitted to travel to the island each day.
Eligible applicants should earn at least 150,000 yuan ($22,388) a year, carry a gold banking card and a property certificate and not have a criminal record.
Individual travelers will be allowed to visit Taiwan for up to 15 days.
Presently, mainland passport holders are allowed to travel to Taiwan only in groups, due to concerns some may stay there to work illegally and overstay their visas.
The number of group members should be more than five and fewer than 40.
Visas for individuals are valid for three months while group visas expire after six months.
Many travel agencies are pleased about the potential market for individual tourists.
"The policy is the only problem now. I believe as long as it opens for individuals, it will attract more people especially young people," Xue Jun, an employee at China Youth Travel Service, told the Global Times.
A package deal for a Taiwan tour is around 10,000 yuan ($1,517) per person during next month's Spring Festival, when millions of people will travel all over China.
The regular price is about 5,000 to 6,000 yuan ($758 to $910).
"After the island is open to individuals, people who visit relatives and friends and young people will still be the mainstream travelers, which will open a new market for Taiwan tours," Xue said.
The mainland and Taiwan have agreed to raise the number of mainland tourists allowed to enter Taiwan from 3,000 to 4,000 a day, as of January 1, 2011, according to an agreement signed last month.
According to Taiwan official statistics, mainland tourists made over 1.5 million visits to Taiwan from January to November last year, outnumbering tourists from all other countries and areas.
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