Taiwanese media said that the mainland will stop issuing G visas for independent travel to Taiwan from August 1, and the quotas for mainland tourist groups in various provinces and cities have also been roughly determined. The number of mainland tourists applying for entry permits to Taiwan has dropped significantly in recent days.

According to Taiwan's "Wang Bao" report on August 21, taking August 20 as an example, as of 6:30 p.m., there were only 2,398 applications for Taiwan entry permits from mainland tourist groups, which was only 53% of the same period in the past. There were only 1,013 applications for independent travel, a sharp drop of 80%. This is the largest drop in the eight years since mainland tourists came to Taiwan for free travel.

The island's tourism industry pointed out that in 2018, mainland tourists came to Taiwan to bring nearly NT$140 billion in tourism revenue (1 NT$ is equivalent to 0.22 yuan - this website's note). It is the only source of tourists in Taiwan with revenue exceeding 100 billion. It is estimated that there will be fewer mainland tourists this year than in 2018, and "next year will be miserable." Whether the economy will recover after May next year may depend on the results of the general election.

Taipei City tourism industry operator surnamed Lin said: "After the mainland stopped issuing G visas for independent travel to Taiwan, there were more than 7,800 applications for Taiwan Entry Permits on the 1st of this month, but a significant decline began in the middle of this month." Both mainland tourist groups and independent travelers have experienced a significant decline.

A travel industry operator surnamed Yang said that the reduction in the number of packages sent by mainland tourist groups clearly shows that the quota system for mainland tour groups is "starting to take effect", but at least about 30% to 50% of the quota for 2018 will be available; the G visa for independent travel has been suspended, and only a few people have obtained G visas before the end of July. In other words, even though there is currently a quota of 8760 per working day, the number of deliveries will be "0" in the future.

“Since 2016, the scale of my travel agency has been reduced by one-third, five employees have been laid off, and 50 tour guides are still unemployed. I also have a tour bus company that has been struggling for nearly three years, but it can no longer survive, so I decided to close it in September this year For sale." Taipei City tourism operator surnamed Chen said that 2.69 million mainland tourists came to Taiwan in 2018. Although it was slightly less than in 2017, the average daily consumption of mainland tourists was US$211.68, second only to Japanese tourists who spent US$219.35. However, the number of mainland tourists visiting Taiwan is 700,000 more than that of Japanese tourists. In addition, mainland tourists stay in Taiwan for an average of 7 days, which is longer than the average 5 to 6 days for Japanese tourists. Therefore, they earn a lot of tourism income. Now even though the Taiwan authorities are vigorously introducing so-called "new southbound" tourists, the number of tourists and their spending power are far less than those of mainland tourists.

(Original title "Taiwan media said the number of mainland tourists visiting Taiwan for free travel dropped by 80%: "It will be miserable next year". Editor Wu Yingqiu)