Travel China Planner

Marriott International has announced the signing of 21 management contracts for hotels and resorts in its Asia-Pacific Region, including major new properties in China.

Two luxury JW Marriott Hotels & Resorts-branded properties will open in Dalian and Sanya, joining nine previously announced JW Marriott hotels under construction, including hotels in Hanoi and the Maldives.

In addition the group is also opening ten full service, upscale Marriott Hotels & Resorts-branded properties including the 712-room Shanghai Marriott Hotel City Center, which opens at the end of 2009; two full-service, upscale Renaissance Hotels & Resorts-branded properties in China; and seven upper-moderately-priced Courtyard by Marriott hotels in China, Cambodia, and India.

Guangxi Airport Management Group and Air Macau will launch a route from Nanning to Taiwan via Macau October 19, 2009.

The flight time will be around four hours with two optional destinations in Taiwan — Taipei and Kaohsiung. Passengers will be able to get the boarding cards for the two legs at Nanning Wuxu International Airport and check their baggage directly to Taiwan without checking in again in Macau.

Three flights are scheduled each week on this route, on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. Each flight will have eight to twelve business class seats in addition to economy class.

The Tourism Bureau of Taiwan is planning to launch three-day/two-night training courses for mainland travel agencies to clarify the procedure for traveling in Taiwan.

The courses will include introduction to scenic spots, Taiwan’s folk culture, and procedures for applying for entry to Taiwan.

According to Taiwan United Evening News, in July about 40,000 mainland Chinese visited Taiwan — an average of over 1,000 tourists per day. The number in August is expected to be 2,000 a day.

An official from Tourism Bureau of Taiwan said that besides individual travelers, many companies, such as Pro-Health and Bayer, are now making Taiwan their MICE destination.

In addition, regular flights across the Strait are expected in late August when the Bureau will promote regional travel and special trips such health trips and food trips.

The director of the Taiwan Tourism Bureau, Lai Sezhen, told local media that Taiwan and the mainland are planning to set up tourism offices in Beijing and Taipei by the end of 2009.

Taiwan Strait Tourism Association and Cross-Strait Tourism Exchange Association made the decision during a meeting held in Hong Kong in early July. The offices will be in charge of such tourism related affairs as complaints handling.

According to Lai, the tourism offices will be of great help in offering tourism information to tourists across the Strait.

From January 2010, Costa Cruises will launch regular cruise route departing from Hong Kong to Taiwan for mainland Chinese tourists.

The new route will be operated by Costa Classica and will offer 15 cruises during the year. Tourists will be able to visit Taipei, Keelung, and Taichung during the voyage.

The regular Taiwan cruise route will be scheduled to depart from Hong Kong in January, February, May, and June in 2010, and stop at Keelung port after the five-day/four-night voyage. Tourists can take day trips to Taipei, Keelung, and Taichung. The launch of the regular cruise route will boost the economic development of the destinations of the voyage. An estimated 50,000 Mainland Chinese tourists will visit Taiwan by Costa Cruises in 2010.

According to data released by China National Tourism Administration, Mainland tourists have made over 350,000 visits to Taiwan since Taiwan tours were available from the Mainland in July 2008.