With the escalading number of Chinese tourists pouring intoTaiwan, which accounts for nearly half of all visitors in Kaohsiung City, many southerners are asking the government to increase the limited cross strait flights between Kaoshiung and China.

In hope for a more direct result, business owners are inviting China's National Tourism Administration Chairman Shao Qiwei to check out Kaohsiung on his upcoming trip.

Some of Kaohsiung's most popular tourist attractions include the former British embassy, where tourists can enjoy a meal and watch the sunset, Liuhe Night Market, and a cruise along Love River.

However, only a small percentage of Chinese tourists to southern Taiwan visit Kenting National Park, which is considered one of southern Taiwan's most beautiful places.

The tourism industry believes that this is because few cross-strait flights serve Kaohsiung, and Chinese tourists therefore often miss out on Tainan or Pingtung.

According to Kaohsiung Association of Travel Agents statistics, Chinese tourists accounted for 45% of all tourists to Kaohsiung in the past year.

However, only 16 of 270 weekly cross-strait flights serve Kaohsiung, and only one of nine Chinese airlines Xiamen Airlines, which operates cross-strait flights, serves Kaohsiung.

Kaohsiung- and Pingtung-based travel agencies recently invited China's National Tourism Administration Chairman, Shao Qiwei, to stop in Kaohsiung during his trip to Taiwan in the hopes of convincing the PRC government to create new Kaohsiung routes.

Shao promised to look into the matter, and also recommended that southern Taiwan's tourism industry expand the market by doing more promotion in China.

Apart from creating "arrive in the south, depart from the south" itineraries, Kaohsiung and Pingtung also hope to have priority during the trial phase of new free travel programs for Chinese tourists.

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