Over 300 tourism operators and journalists from Taiwan Province began a three-day visit to the mainland Friday to inspect travel routes in Beijing and Guilin as well as the recovery of the mainland tourism industry.

At a reception held here Saturday evening, Gu Chaoxi, deputy director of China National Tourism Administration (CNTA), noted that the outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) badly affected the tourism industry across the strait.

"Tourism operators are currently going all out for tourism recovery," said Gu. "This visit is one of the signs showing the beginning of the recovery of the tourism market and indicates the common determination of tourism operators across the Taiwan Straits."

In recent years, tourism exchanges across the strait has been on the rise. The number of Taiwanese tourists to the mainland grew over eight times to 3.66 million in 2002 compared with 1988.

By the end of 2002, over 24 million Taiwanese tourists has visited the mainland, for purposes such as sightseeing and business. Their destinations developed from the original southeast China to all parts of the mainland.

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