Tourism stocks advanced yesterday as media outlets in China reported that Beijing would announce regulations allowing more Chinese tourists to visit Taiwan. The news boosted share prices of hoteliers such as Formosa International Hotels Corp to record highs.
Formosa gained NT$3.1, or 6.4 percent, to close at NT$51.6. The Ambassador Hotel Ltd rose NT$1.75 to NT$26.85, and Leofoo Development Co climbed NT$1.1 to NT$17.45, both reaching the upper limit of 7 percent on share price fluctuations.
“We welcome China’s policy to ease its tourism ban, which will bring huge economic benefits to Taiwan,” said Johnson Tseng , chairman of the Taipei Association of Travel Agents (TATA, ).
In 2002, the government limited the number of visitors from China to 1,000 per day, or 365,000 a year, but because Beijing maintains strict controls on visits to Taiwan, only 19,000 Chinese tourists came to Taiwan for sightseeing last year, and 13,900 engaged in academic and business exchanges here, according to government statistics.
If the current quota of Chinese visitors were to be filled every day, the Taiwanese economy would receive an injection of NT$50 billion (US$1.6 billion) per year, Tseng said.
More: taipeitimes.com
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