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Mainland to learn from Taiwan in tourism rebuilding

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-07-10 08:44

The Chinese mainland is set to learn from Taiwan's post-quake rebuilding efforts to help the tourism industry in Sichuan recover more quickly and effectively after the May 12 disaster.

Chairman of the Beijing-based Cross-Straits Tourism Communication Association (CSTCA), Shao Qiwei, toured a community, a primary school and a Taoist temple in Taiwan's Nantou County on Tuesday on a fact-finding mission.

Tourism in Nantou County, hit by a 7.6-magnitude earthquake on September 21, 1999, lost 4.8 billion New Taiwan dollars ($158 million). The earthquake claimed 2,000 lives and toppled thousands of buildings.

Nantou, however, managed to completely rebuild its tourism industry within three years. "The key to its success lies in efficient cooperation between residents and government," Shao said.

"Nantou's planning on tourism reconstruction was timely and well-positioned. Its planning on the rural areas was even more outstanding," Shao said.

He said the experience was instructive for Sichuan province, an important tourist destination on the mainland.

Residents in Nantou worked hard on reconstruction. They sold local special products like areca, tea and pottery to tourists, bringing in a considerable part of their income.

The government granted each tourism company a reconstruction subsidy. Residents enjoyed interest-free loans in the first one and a half years and long-term low-interest loans for rebuilding.

Well-known scenic spots like the Sun Moon Lake also contributed to a quicker tourism recovery.

The May 12 quake that hit Sichuan and its neighbouring provinces has caused tourism figures to plummet. 300,000 people in Sichuan working in tourism have been affected.

"The gloomy tourism industry is likely to make the locals more helpless and pessimistic. Tourists can bring hope to them," said Shao.

As a place dubbed "nature's reserve", Sichuan province boasts a large number of scenic spots well known to Chinese and foreigners alike, including the famous natural resort Jiuzhaigou and the Giant Panda breeding base in Wolong.