This photo taken on Feb. 21, 2024 shows the Kinmen bridge and a view of Xiamen in the distance seen from an estuary in Kinmen.(Photo: Xinhua)

On Sunday, the local government of Kinmen, the island of Taiwan, organized a warm welcome ceremony for the first tour group from the Chinese mainland since the pandemic, a Kinmen official told the Global Times on Monday. 

The group of 20-plus tourists arrived in Kinmen from Xiamen, Fujian Province, which is less than two kilometers away, and were on a two-day sightseeing tour that ended on Monday. 

On August 30, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism announced the decision to resume allowing residents in Fujian to travel to Kinmen. 

The Kinmen county government organized a lion-dance performance at the wharf, along with a long red banner, to welcome the tour group, an official from Kinmen's tourism department told the Global Times on Monday on condition of anonymity. He said officials from Kinmen welcomed the group at the wharf, expressing their hope that the tour would pave the way for smoother and more regular cross-Straits exchanges.

The official said that the arrival of the tour group carried great significance as cross-Straits exchanges had been halted for such a long time, and now it is time to make a large step forward. 

Taiwan's tourism operators told Taiwan media that the mainland market has always played a crucial role for Taiwan's tourism industry and they hope cross-Straits relations can move forward in the right direction. There are 4,000 travel agencies in Taiwan, about 90 percent of which have mainland business.

The Kinmen official said that the Kinmen government has been actively taking measures to attract tourists from the mainland, such as enhancing the environment of local tourist attractions. "The arrival of mainland tourists will surely boost cross-Straits exchanges… We are also working with government departments from both the mainland and the island of Taiwan to make it more smooth and convenient for mainland tourists to visit," the official noted.