BEIJING -- Managers of 33 travel agencies from the Chinese mainland will pay a 10-day visit to Taiwan from Sunday, an official of the China National Tourism Administration (CNTA) said.
The group will inspect tourism facilities to make advance arrangements following a recent agreement with the island, China News Service (CNS)quoted a CNTA official as saying.
The delegation will focus on hotels, transportation, shopping centers and major tourist sites such as Mt. Ali and Riyuetan, CNS said.
The official said that the CNTA will publish a list of the 33 mainland travel agencies authorized to deal with cross-Straits tours next week. Detailed rules on cross-Strait travel will be released as well.
The mainland's Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits and the Taiwan-based Straits Exchange Foundation signed an agreement on Friday that opens the island's door to mainland tourists.
The agreement, taking effect June 20, will see the arrival of the first tourist group to Taiwan on July 4.
The pact set a quota for the number of tourists in line with Taiwan's accommodation capacity. A maximum of 3,000 mainland tourists can travel to Taiwan every day, the agreement said.
In the meantime, mainland residents in Beijing, Tianjin, Liaoning, Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Fujian, Shandong, Hubei, Guangdong, Chongqing, Yunnan and Shaanxi could apply for tours to the island.
