TAIWAN TOUR GUIDES QUALIFY IN CHINA FOR NEW MARKET|沒陸客無團帶 傳華語導遊集體出走赴中

As the number of inbound Chinese tourists dwindles, many tour guides find themselves without a job, but it turns out that China's Fujian Province is taking them in by organizing training courses and licensing exams for them. Here's our report. Large Chinese tour groups are no longer seen in front of the Shilin Official Residence. At around 3 p.m. on April 3rd, there was only one group from Hebei Province. The decrease of Chinese tour groups and the cut-price tour industry in China, in which each tourist pays less than NT$15,000 for an eight-day tour in Taiwan, are the reasons Taiwan's tour guides have to bring tourists to shopping centers and make a profit from this. Many tour guides even plan to go to China to make a living. ==LIN TE-JEN Dep.-Dir., Tourist Guide Assn.== If we lose 1 million Chinese tourists a year and because Taiwan's tour guides focus exclusively on Chinese tourists, the tour guides will not have 50,000 groups to serve. In other words, about 10,000 tour guides will be affected. At the end of last year, Taiwan's Tourist Guide Association took 150 tour guides to Fujian to take tests. Starting from 2015, Fujian Provincial Tourism Bureau allowed Taiwan's tour guides to obtain local licenses after they undergo local training courses and take tests. Another group of tour guides are expected to take tests this May. In response, the Tourism Bureau said it has made efforts for the past year, and therefore the number of tourists from other countries has seen a dramatic increase. ==TANG WEN-CHI Tourism Bureau committee member== Other than the Chinese tourists, tourists from other countries have been increasing. From last May to this February, the tourism revenue increases by NT$42.8 billion. The Tourism Bureau admitted that tourists from other countries lag behind Chinese tourists, who feature strong purchasing power and used to yield tremendous tourism revenue. The bureau said it will continue helping tour companies develop tour packages catering to different tourists. TRANSLATED BY：BRYANT CHANG 陸客團不來，華語導遊無團可帶，現在傳出、可能集體出走到對岸執業！福建旅遊局允許台灣導遊在當地培訓後通過考試，換發當地執業執照。台灣導遊協會在去年底就帶著150名導遊前往考試，預計今年五月還會再有一批台灣導遊報名。 士林官邸前，過去隨時都有大批陸客團的狀況已不復見，下午三點多，只有一團來自河北的旅客，帶團導遊說，陸客團不僅少，當地旅行社還低價競爭，平均一人不到一萬五台幣的團費，就可以來台灣玩八天，導遊得努力從購物店行程賺回團費，不少華語導遊更是無團可接，已經醞釀出走到中國。 ==導遊協會副理事長 林德仁== 假設我們一年有 100萬的陸客沒有來 那華語導遊幾乎市場在陸客 那100萬的話大概就是 有五萬團的導遊沒團帶 換句話就是 受災戶的導遊應該有一萬多人 台灣導遊協會去年底、就帶著150位導遊，到福建考照，這是福建旅遊局前年起試辦計畫，允許台灣導遊在當地培訓後通過考試，就能換發當地執業執照。預計五月還會再有一批導遊去考試，面對陸客團重創產業，觀光局表示，經過一年多來的努力，其他市場的客源都大有斬獲。 ==觀光局業務組專門委員 湯文琦== 除了陸客以外的市場 其實都是在成長的狀況 那這部分如果我們用去年五月 到今年二月來看的話 事實上他整個觀光收益 也是增加了428億 觀光局坦言，陸客團消費力強，過去購物創造的觀光產值確實讓其他國家遊客一時難以追上，觀光局會持續輔導業者，開發出因應不同市場的旅遊商品 綜合報導