TCTIA Extends Promotion to Xiamen

Source:Rong-Jhih Hong, China Times, April 4, 2014 11:05

TCTIA opens its Xiamen Office in attendance of Chinese officials. (Provided by TCTIA)

Although the anti-MAST student movement has provoked anti-China sentiment among part of the Taiwanese public, there are still many Taiwanese businessmen continuing their ventures in Mainland China. Formed by Tainan’s gourmet food and greeting gift businesses, the Tainan Cultural Tourism Industry Association (TCTIA) set up its representative office in Xiamen City during the student movement, hoping to use the office as a springboard for advancing to the Mainland, and marketing Tainan’s gourmet food and souvenirs throughout China.

As the cross-strait civilian exchange becomes increasingly frequent, tourism associations of various Taiwanese counties and cities have subsequently set up representative offices in Xiamen. Following six counties and cities including Taichung, Keelung, Penghu, Yilan, Kinmen, and Chiayi, the TCTIA Office in Xiamen City was launched in a plaque unveiling ceremony on March 31.

On the opening day, apart from the 35-member TCTIA delegation with various delicacies and greeting gifts from Tainan, many Chinese officials including Director Hao-Rong Shih of Xiamen Municipal Bureau of Civil Affairs, Inspector Ci Yan of Xiamen Municipal Bureau of Tourism, Vice President Jin-Yuan Sie of Xiamen Tourism Association, and Director Bao-Wei Jhang of the Taiwan Affairs Office of the Xiamen Municipal Government also offered their congratulations in person at this lively event.

It is understood that due to the vigorous efforts of ex-chairman of Tainan Association of Travel Agents Ming-Lang Li, and chairman of the Xiamen buyers commune agricultural technology company Fu-Ming Chen, TCTIA gained approval of the Xiamen Municipal Government and obtained the only pass to experiment the stationing of Tainan civic organizations in Xiamen. It was originally planned to start operation last year; however, the death of Chairman Li delayed its opening schedule till last Monday.

TCTIC chairman Yuan-Leng Su pointed out that the main tasks of the Xiamen office include developing economic, trade, and tourism exchanges and services for people on both sides, assisting people on both sides in emergency travel support and the protection of consumer interests, planning and organizing cross-strait food and culture festivals, and effectively promoting the development of cross-strait tourist economy. In the future, it will also assist the Government to promote economic and trade services in logistics and passenger transportation, and tourism and gourmet events between Xiamen and Tainan.

Ming-Sian Jiang, Director of the TCTIA Xiamen Office and Xiamen representative of Min Sin Food Enterprise Co., also stated that the Office would do its best to bring Tainan’s most authentic cuisines, profound culture, and eco-tourism to Xiamen, and introduce Xiamen’s scenery and gourmet food, and the south Fujian culture to more countrymen in southern Taiwan, transforming the two cities into the hottest destinations for cross-strait tourism.