Falling Chinese tour numbers impact travel industry / 陸客銳減 520後首家陸客團旅行社倒閉　　　　　　　　　　

The number of hotels in Taiwan has soared rapidly since Taiwan opened up to Chinese tourists. However, the number of Chinese tourists to Taiwan has plummeted since March and decreased even more rapidly after the Tsai Ing-wen administration took office in May. Many companies in the tourism industries are facing financial difficulty. Yesterday, A Plus International Travel Service Company suddenly closed down and became the first tour operator to go out of business due to the drop in Chinese tourist numbers. ==APARTMENT JANITOR== There's no one there! On August 23, A Plus International Travel Service Company suddenly told its employees that the company was closing. A Plus has not paid its tour guides and has urgently transferred its 8 tourist groups at hand to other tour operators. A Plus was the first tour operator to go out of business since the number of Chinese tourists visiting Taiwan started decreasing. ==CHEN CHIA-YING, Chief Intl Affairs Div., Tourism Bureau== According to our understanding, A Plus' bounced checks have so far amounted to NT$2.2 million. We'll keep up with the rest. According to the Tourism Bureau, the number of Chinese tourist groups has been in decline since March. It remains to be seen whether or not A Plus' closedown will have a ripple effect. Mr. Lin has been a tour guide for Chinese tourist groups for many years. He said that in addition to tour operators, coach operators, restaurants, and hotels are all barely holding on. ==LIN, Tour Guide== People in tourism-related industries, including tour guides, restaurants, hotels, food stands at night markets, and coach operators are all worried about this development. In 2008, Taiwan opened up to Chinese tourists, and the tourism industry has grown rapidly since. The decreasing number of mainland tourists has forced hotels that targeted mainland tourists to think about transformation. Some hotels in Taipei have already been sold, while new hotels in Tainan and Chiayi are thinking about selling their ownership even before operation. The government sure does have to address the tourism industry's over-reliance on mainland tourists. TRANSLATED BY：LUKE CHIANG ==大樓管理員== 沒有人了啦 無預警倒閉的創世紀旅行社，就在這棟大樓裡，昨天業者跟員工說公司倒閉，今天就已經人去樓空，而且還積欠導遊費用，目前創世紀仍然有8個團在台灣，已經緊急請其他旅行社接手，是陸客縮減以來，第一家關門的觀光業者。 ==交通部觀光局業務組科長 陳嘉穎== 截至我們目前所了解到 到昨天為止他的跳票金額 是220幾萬 目前我們所了解是這樣 至於陸續後續有沒有 再繼續有些跳票的部分 這個我們還要再觀察 觀光局坦承，今年三月後，陸客團來台數確實減少許多，也讓人擔心，如果陸客人數持續下滑，倒閉潮是否會出現骨牌效應，帶大陸團多年的林姓導遊很有感，他說不只旅行社，遊覽車、餐廳，還有飯店業者，通通都是在苦撐。 ==林姓導遊== 所有我們台灣旅遊業 所有人都擔心 不是只有導遊啦 酒店 餐廳 包括夜市 這些小攤小販 反正跟旅遊業相關的所有人 包括旅遊大巴車 所有人都擔心 只因為8年前開放陸客來台，造就台灣觀光業的蓬勃發展，飯店業急速擴張，連建設公司都加入經營飯店的行列，但是陸客限縮後，不少以接待陸客為主的飯店，感受到轉型的必要，不但大台北地區有部分飯店，傳出拋售潮，台南嘉義等地，也有飯店還沒營運，就要轉手，如何拓展更多源的市場，不讓台灣觀光業過度依賴陸客團，恐怕政府單位要好好思考。 記者 綜合報導