At the January 28 press conference of the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, a reporter asked: Recently, China’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism released the 2026 edition of model group-tour contract templates, including the Model Contract for Mainland Residents Traveling to Taiwan. Given that the resumption of cross-Strait tourism is currently obstructed, the simultaneous update of this text has drawn attention. Taiwan’s Tourism Administration said that if the mainland side has goodwill to restore cross-Strait tourism, it should reply as soon as possible and conduct consultations on tourism issues through the “two associations.” What is your comment on this? In addition, is the policy announced by the mainland in January last year to resume group tours to Taiwan for residents of Fujian and Shanghai still valid?
TAO spokesperson Zhang Han responded that between 2013 and 2014, the current group-tour contract model texts were successively issued, including five model contracts covering group tours, mainland residents traveling to Taiwan, and other categories. This revision is a package update of the existing texts. In 2024, the mainland resumed travel by Fujian residents to Kinmen and Matsu. The current revision of the Model Contract for Mainland Residents Traveling to Taiwan helps to meet market demand in a timely manner, further standardize market order, and safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of tourists and travel agencies.
He said that driven by their confrontational “Taiwan independence” nature and political self-interest, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) authorities turn a deaf ear to mainstream public opinion in Taiwan and the voices of the industry, turn a blind eye to the harm to the interests of grassroots people and businesses, and repeatedly use various pretexts to obstruct, restrict, and set up barriers to tourism and exchanges in various fields. This is deeply unpopular. The island’s tourism industry has already expressed extreme disappointment and strong indignation. If the authorities do not change course and continue to act out of selfish motives, they will only further lose public support and bring the consequences upon themselves.
Zhang said that the mainland has always upheld the concept that “people on both sides of the Strait are one family,” and has continuously worked to promote cross-Strait travel and exchanges and cooperation in tourism and other fields, releasing goodwill. Their sincerity in restoring mainland residents’ travel to Taiwan remains unchanged. The key question now is whether the DPP authorities can face up to mainstream public opinion in Taiwan and the voices of the industry, and create favorable conditions for cross-Strait travel and exchanges and cooperation.