The ninth Straits Travel Fair will extend cooperation across the Taiwan Straits from tourism exchanges to industrial collaboration to bring about mutual benefits, officials said.

The fair, which is being held in Xiamen, Fujian province from Sunday to Wednesday, is one of the major sideline activities of the 17th China International Fair for Investment and Trade.

Rather than being dominated by the government, this year's event will highlight the role of the market. "It is aimed at providing better projects and more benefits on a larger scale and at less expense in tourism cooperation," said Zheng Weirong, deputy director of the Fujian Tourism Bureau, on Friday.

Seventy new preferential tourism policies will be announced at the fair as a platform created to release tourism policies at the provincial level. It is the first trial for Taiwan and 14 mainland provinces and cities jointly releasing those policies to domestic tourists.

Experts from both the mainland and Taiwan suggested the two sides should make joint efforts to upgrade the tourism industry. "Attracting more renowned tourism experts to the event is one of the main elements this year, such as experts from the Taiwan Visitors Association," Zheng said.

During the fair, a round-table discussion will be held to discuss new opportunities and challenges in developing rural cross-Straits tourism business. Ten tourist spots will be selected from both sides as "rural tourism cooperation demonstration bases". These bases will operate in pairs, sharing experiences in designing tours in the countryside.

Cooperation in tourism education will be developed as well. The Fujian provincial government plans to invite around 10,000 Taiwan students majoring in tourism to study in five universities in the province as part of an exchange program over the next five years.

Nearly 3,500 guests and exhibitors are expected to attend the travel fair, including tourism administration officials from the mainland and Taiwan, travel agencies and tourism experts, according to the organizers. It is the largest ever such event.

The six-day initiative will launch more than 200 investment projects for tourism, with the goal of attracting 100 billion yuan ($16.3 billion).

Data showed the total number of visits made by people from both sides of the Straits surged from 4.7 million in 2008 to 7.05 million in 2012, with an annual growth rate of 14 percent.

The mainland is now the largest source of tourists for Taiwan, while Taiwan is the third-largest source of tourists for the mainland.

So far, residents from 26 mainland cities are allowed to visit Taiwan as individual tourists under a pilot tourism program agreed upon by the two sides, with 13 mainland cities newly approved in June.

zhujin@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily USA 09/07/2013 page7)