The Hawaii Visitors and Convention Bureau's office in Taipei said the seven-day tour will depart from Taiwan Nov. 1 — the first day Taiwan's visa-waiver status takes effect — and will cost under NT$70,000 (US$2,383.15) per person.
The tour will take participants to Pearl Harbor, Diamond Head and other famous destinations, the office said.
The United States Department of Homeland Security announced Taiwan's visa waiver membership on Tuesday. Under the program, Taiwan's passport holders will be granted visa-free stays of up to 90 days in the United States.
Lo Tsai-ling, marketing director at California-based Kirk Vacation, praised Taiwan's inclusion in the program and expected that the number of Taiwanese tourists in the US will increase by 15-20% in the early stages after the program takes effect.
The increase will be even bigger if airlines and hotels offer more promotional deals, he said.
Ho Chia-yen, director at Ho Ho Travel in Los Angeles, said many tours to the US West Coast that target Taiwanese tourists have lowered their prices by 10% to attract business.
In New York, Taiwanese expatriates who operate B&Bs there said that since the announcement was made, they have received many more inquiries than usual from potential Taiwanese tourists and expected Taiwan's admission to help their businesses.
One B&B operator in Queens, who identified himself as Steven, said many backpackers from Taiwan have chosen to go to Europe instead of the United States in recent years because they can enter the Schengen area visa free while having to pay NT$4,800 (US$163.7) for a US visa.
He predicted that many of them are now likely to travel to the US, and he expected B&Bs operated by Taiwanese and Chinese expatriates to benefit because they are relatively inexpensive and the owners can speak Chinese.
Source: Want China Times
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