About 230,000 tourists from Taiwan visited central China’s Hubei province during the first ten months of 2013, Hubei Daily reported on Dec 24.

Lin Mingzhe, deputy general-manager of Feiyang Travel Agency in Kaohsiung, said that an increasing number of Taiwan tourists are interested in visiting Hubei, adding that many Taiwan residents know Guangxi because of Guilin and Hunan because of Zhangjiajie but, though Hubei has the Three Gorges, not many people in Taiwan know much about the province.

According to a market survey report by the Hubei Provincial Tourism Bureau, Hubei was ranked in the 17th place concerning the number of Taiwan tourists visiting mainland provinces in 2011, and the low ranking was due to a lack of information about the province as a tourist destination.

Hubei tourism bureau has taken a series measures, such as the establishment in July 2011 of a Hubei-Taiwan Tourism Alliance in Yichang city.

In addition, the authorities have encouraged Hubei tourism enterprises to participate in various tourism fairs in Taiwan and to invite two or three Taiwan counterparts to visit Hubei every year.

On June 2, a store with 3D maps, a touch screen and interactive performances showcasing Hubei’s tourist attractions opened in Kaohsiung.

Li Zhi, deputy general-manager of a travel agency called “Hubei Transnational Travel Service”, said that many promotional campaigns concerning Hubei’s tourist attractions can be seen in the streets, railway stations and on buses in Taiwan.

Li also said that combined travel routes involving Hubei, Jiangxi and Anhui provinces are popular among Taiwan tourists, and Wuhan has a very important advantage concerning its transportation system, which includes direct flights and high-speed railway.

Edited by Niva Whyman