Mainland Tour Groups Give Tourism a Boost

Mainland Tour Groups Give Tourism a Boost
China Times editorial (Taipei, Taiwan, ROC)
A Translation
March 19, 2009

"Sun Moon Lake is so beautiful!" So exclaimed a member of the first Amway Corporation tour group from Mainland China. Local officials personally received them. The Amway tour group "shopped til they dropped," and were full of praise for Taiwan's cultural amenities and scenic wonders. Members of this group, were considered "high-rollers," and offered one surprise after another. Some locals referred to them as financial patrons. Others scoffed at the notion that mainland tourists could save Taiwan's economy. Some politicians sniffed, "So they've got money? Big deal!" The Amway tour group served as a kind of litmus test. They touched a raw nerve, impacting Taiwan in a way that went beyond mere economics.

Both sides of the Strait have psychological issues. Mainland tourists look forward to touring Taiwan. Among other things, they feel a sense of identification with the island. Oddly enough, some Taiwanese find these tourists' feelings of identification offensive. Consequently they may even feel revulsion toward the Mainland tour group's purchasing power. In Hualien alone the group spent over 120 million dollars, making the Amway Corporation tour group welcome wherever it went. Yet some people felt only antagonism. They felt large numbers of Mainland tourists arriving on Taiwan would lower the standards of Taiwan's tourism industry. Some fear these human waves will make Taiwan's tourism industry overly dependent upon the Mainland. Taiwan dependence upon Mainland tourism for economic survival is something many people on Taiwan cannot tolerate. It may not be the best path for Taiwan's development. Therefore the "Amway Model" needs careful evaluation.

Mainland tour groups have inspired considerable optimism. Taiwan's tourism industry appears to have gotten an economic reprieve/ Mainland officials have allowed mainland tourists to visit Taiwan. Mainland tourists are curious about Taiwan. Local businesses look forward to Mainland tourists the way farmers faced with drought look forward to rain. They hope Mainland tourists will give Taiwan's tourism industry and Taiwan's economy a boost. People on Taiwan must become accustomed to seeing more and more Mainland tourists. They must learn to to cater to them. When Mainland tourists are no longer "occasional visitors," how will people on Taiwan perceive them? We can hardly view them with disgust, contempt, and hostility, as we wear false smiles in the hope of making money from them. Treating one's customers with warmth and goodwill is central to the service industry. We ought to have the same attitude toward Mainland tourists.

Some Mainland tourists may make people uncomfortable by flashing their money around. But tour groups from any nation will includes such individuals. We should respond in a manner that is neither hostile nor servile, We hardly need to invoke "ethnic identity" and "national dignity" at every turn. We hardly need to engage in self-abasement or self-pity. The fact is many businesses welcome and need Mainland tourist dollars. How much Mainland tourists are willing to spend on Taiwan, depends in large part on how much of an effort Taiwan businesses are willing to make. Patronage is a form of affirmation. We really have no need to belittle ourselves, by thinking that we are recipients of other people's charity.

We should not perceive Mainland tourists as economic saviors of Taiwan's tourism and service industries. We should characterize Mainland tourism as an opportunity for our tourism and service industries to hone their skills. Large numbers of Mainland tourists will enable us to gauge our maximum capacity, including our hotel facilities, the quality of our tourist facilities, the convenience of our transportation services, and the quality of our customer service. These must all undergo continual improvement in order to make Taiwan a more attractive tourist destination.

If fewer mainland tourists visited, many of Taiwan's tourism industry providers could not afford to upgrade their services. It makes no difference attitude Mainland tourists may have when they visit. They provide us with the opportunity to upgrade the "hard power" and "soft power" of our tourism industry. Our tourism industry is not dedicated exclusively to serving Mainland customers. Mainland tourism allows Taiwan's tourism industry to prepare for increased tourism in general. Mainland tourists allow us to promote Taiwan's scenic and cultural attractions to the entire world, to make Taiwan a destination of choice, and to transform the island into a world-class vacation spot.

The Amway tour group's spending habits were extravagant. But we must not expect all Mainland tourists to spend so much. The Amway Corporation is merely the first tour group to arrive from the Mainland. Its may not reflect the economic wherewithal of future groups. As cross-strait tourism becomes more frequent, mutual understanding and mutual trust will increase. We should expect greater diversity among Mainland tourists. Not all of them will be high-rollers. Other classes of Mainland tourists will appear, including "Average Joes." Therefore, Taiwan's tourism industry and Taiwan's economy as a whole will need to consider how to provide a different mix of goods and services, in order to meet the different demands of consumers. Consumers are not limited to Mainland tourists. Taiwan's tourism service sector should aspire to attract tourists from all over the world.

中時電子報
中國時報 　2009.03.19
社論－藉陸客團提升觀光產業身手
本報訊

「日月潭真是太美了！」這是安利中國營銷菁英首發團的驚嘆！從地方首長紛紛親自接待，到安利團大手筆的採購實力，以及對台灣人文景物讚不絕口的高度喜愛，這個被認為是「頂級豪華旅遊團」的陸客觀光團正不斷創造驚奇；有人奉為是財神爺，但是也有人心裡酸酸的，對「靠陸客救觀光、救台灣經濟」的期待不以為然，甚至有民意代表嗆聲「有錢有什麼了不起」！作為陸客觀光指標的安利團，顯然已牽動了經濟理性之外的敏感神經。

複雜幽微的情結，兩岸都有。陸客對旅遊台灣的引頸期待，其中有多少所謂的家國情懷，是讓人好奇的，而如此情感上的投射，的確也讓一些台灣人「難以消受」，因而對大陸團甚至於他們的購買力產生了排斥；現實上，僅在花蓮一地消費就超過一二○萬元的消費能力，讓安利團所到之處都大受歡迎，但卻也有人並不領情，認為大量陸客來台會拉低台灣整體觀光水平，潛在的擔憂則是大陸的人海戰術將使得台灣觀光產業有過度向中國大陸傾斜的危險；台灣全靠大陸賞飯吃，這不但是很多台灣人受不了的心理障礙，實際上來說，也不是台灣發展的健康之途，因而在「安利模式」的背後，的確存在著值得深思的課題。

在對大陸團的無限想像中，觀光產業似乎有機會成為台灣經濟突破低迷窘境的「首發產業」。大陸官方對陸客遊台的開放、陸客對台灣的好奇嚮往、台灣對陸客有如大旱望雲霓的心情，都將使得台灣整個觀光產業，以至於台灣的街景風情，出現巨大的改變。台灣人恐怕要逐漸習慣眼目所見愈來愈多的大陸觀光客，要習慣很多地方為迎合陸客所做的調整與改變。當大陸觀光客不再是「稀客」時，台灣人要用什麼樣的心情來面對呢？我們不可能一方面嫌惡、輕視乃至敵視陸客，另一方面又勉強自己堆起笑容，想要賺他們的錢。發自內心的親切與善意是服務業最重要的特質，面對陸客，我們也應該有這樣的心態與態度。

或許有陸客大剌剌地炫耀財富，讓人感覺不舒服，但任何國家的任何旅遊團都可能出現這樣的客人，我們自己可以選擇以不卑不亢的態度應對，不需要動輒上綱到族群意識、國家尊嚴，更不需要因此自貶自憐；事實是，的確有很多商家歡迎也需要陸客的消費，而陸客願意在台灣花多少錢，很大一部分要看台灣業者的實力與努力；消費就是一種肯定，我們實在不必看輕自己，老覺得別人是在施捨。

與其說陸客是台灣觀光產業或者台灣經濟的「救星」，不如說，大陸觀光客是給台灣觀光產業以及廣義的服務業「鍛鍊身手」的機會。大量陸客幫助我們檢視自己的觀光能量，包括飯店、旅遊設施的質量水準到不到位，交通運輸的便捷性程度，以至於服務精神、服務態度的良窳等等，都可以藉著服務陸客不斷操練，不斷進步，往更好、讓人更喜愛的完美道路前進。

如果少了陸客，或許很多台灣觀光業者也沒有能力可以進行種種設施與服務的提升，所以不論陸客是用什麼樣的心情來旅遊台灣，對台灣來說，都是提升自己觀光產業「硬實力」與「軟實力」的機會；換言之，觀光產業所做的種種努力，不必以服務陸客為限，而是為台灣觀光業能廣開客源做準備，為的是能夠把台灣的好山好水好人情，推銷給世界各地更多人，讓人們願意把台灣列為觀光休憩的選擇，讓台灣這個寶島真的能夠成為世界級的寶島。

我們不必因為見識到安利的手筆，就期望未來的陸客都是這樣的規模；老實說，安利團只是陸客首發團，其成員未必能夠完全反應未來的陸客結構。隨著兩岸觀光交流的愈來愈頻繁，彼此間的了解與互信會慢慢加強，可以預期的是，來台陸客的構成也會愈來愈多元，不可能永遠都是豪氣的「大腕團」，需求不同的「平民團」、「一般團」，也會陸續出現，因此，台灣觀光業者或者說整個台灣，都需要思考如何提供不同的商品組合，以滿足消費者多樣化的需求；當然，所謂的消費者，也不單單是指陸客，台灣觀光服務業應該要有吸引全世界觀光客的旺盛企圖心與廣大胸懷。