Online travel service firms Ctrip and ezTravel have teamed
up to offer holidays across the Taiwan Straits.
Ctrip International Ltd, the biggest online travel service firm
on the Chinese mainland, and ezTravel Co Ltd, its counterpart in
Taiwan, formed a strategic alliance yesterday in Beijing.
"Many people are very interested in going to the 'island of
treasure'," said James Liang, CEO of Shanghai-based Ctrip. "Now,
with the partnership with ezTravel, we are ready to launch the
services, as soon as the authorities give their approval."
Yesterday, Ctrip launched several tourist routes from five
mainland cities to Taiwan on its website.
Tour prices range from more than 6,000 yuan (US$720) to 19,000
yuan (US$2,290).
ezTravel is renowned for its hotel and ticket booking resources,
as well as experience in online services.
The company also operates the only round-the-island luxury train
tour in Taiwan, which is a popular attraction.
But the tourism industries on both sides are still waiting for
the green light from the Taiwanese authorities for unrestricted
tours for mainland tourists.
There are no direct flights from the mainland to Taiwan despite
the fact that there are no restrictions imposed by the mainland on
visitors traveling to the island. The Taiwanese authorities,
however, have not made final arrangements on their side with
respect to unrestricted travel for mainlanders.
In May, it was announced that a maximum of 1,000 mainland
tourists per day would be allowed to entry into Taiwan.
Despite the quota, enthusiasm from mainlanders was so great that
on May 24, the first day that reservations could be made, more than
300 Beijing residents made applications to travel agencies and more
than 1,000 would-be jet-setters from Guangzhou telephoned travel
service companies inquiring about Taiwan tours.
Jennifer Lan, senior manager of vacation products at Ctrip,
said: "If we look at the demand for the near future, it may not be
very huge, but when the policies come out, Taiwan will be a hot
destination."
Jim Sun, a Shanghai-based Internet industry analyst, also agreed
on the significance of the partnership, but said tours will mainly
bring political gains, while economic benefits may not be very
big.
On the other hand, the two companies will also be able to tap
the market for trips to the mainland.
Lan said 7 million Taiwanese visit the mainland every year, and
about one tenth of them are ezTravel customers. About 80 percent go
on packaged tours.
As per their partnership terms, accommodation on the mainland
for ezTravel's packaged tour customers will be taken care of by
Ctrip.
On June 6, fifty travel agencies across the Taiwan Straits
gathered in Fuzhou City in east China's Fujian
Province to discuss cross-Straits tourism. The meeting,
arranged by the Fujian Provincial Tourism Association (FPTA),
attracted 29 travel agencies from Taiwan and 21 from Fujian. It was
the first time travel organizations from Fujian Province and Taiwan
had met since the mainland gave the green light to trips to Taiwan
in May.
(China Daily, Xinhua News Agency June 8,
2005)
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