Analyzing the Mainland Chinese People’s Taiwan-Bound, Self-Guided Tours: Do They Provide a Window of Chance for the Development of Taiwanese Tourism Industry?

Abstract

The greatest difference between “self-guided tours” for mainland Chinese in Taiwan, kicked off at June 2011, and the currently dominant “group-in, group-out” tourism model lies in the fact that the former dispenses with travel guides and thus allows Chinese tourists to freely choose their desired itineraries and accommodations, which in turn breaks the monopoly of a few service providers in the mainlanders-reliant tourism market. By way of interviewing and literature review, this study’s author attempted to summarize the positive and unknown effects of Taiwan’s policy concerning the deregulation of mainlanders’ self-guided tours. The last part of this study offers government authorities some policy-oriented recommendations in this regard.