Although tourists from the mainland and those from elsewhere flock to Taiwan for the same things, the Taiwanese media automatically reports on them differently.
This might be subtle and in most cases seems to be done unconsciously, but the effect does little to help tourism, one of the island's major industries.
A few weeks ago, I, a white guy, was grabbed by a Taiwanese TV reporter team at a downtown Taipei street corner.
I was asked who I am, and then came the purely rote question about whether or not Taipei has too many motor scooters.
Minutes later I had hopped on the subway, had a good view of someone's newspaper and could spot a picture taken of a young Belgian tourist couple beaming with joy on top of the Taipei 101, the city's major landmark.
The short article introduced them by their names, ages as well as professions, and what followed were their opinions on the Taipei travel experience. "It's all great, really," they said, "well, apart from these nasty scooters."
Fast-forward to the other day when the local press published this year's 100th-odd report with business statistics on inbound tourism from the mainland.
"Average daily spending by mainland tourists visiting Taiwan increases," it read, and a "breakdown of expenditures" showed that the money mainland tourists spend on shopping has jumped while that spend on accommodation has fallen since last year.
Rounding it all off were the insightful findings that mainlanders coming in tour groups tend to buy pineapple cakes and luxury goods, "including coral products and high-end watches," while individual mainland tourists are more interested in cosmetic products but still buy pineapple cakes.
Conspicuous in all these articles on mainland tourists is the introduction of individuals. With visitors from elsewhere, Taiwanese journalists tend not to bother asking tourists from across the Taiwan Straits for their names and professions, let alone opinions.
They portray mainland visitors as a homogeneous mass, the one notable exception being reports made on something really bad involving them: Sadly, it takes gory bus accidents where mainlanders are harmed or the exposure of outrageous tourist traps for them to be asked for their experiences and opinions or to even perhaps be quoted by name.
Outlets across the political spectrum are equally guilty of portraying mainland tourists and tourists from elsewhere in a profoundly different way.
While this suggests that the practice is more unconscious than deliberate, it still certainly shapes public opinion in a negative way.
Of course, the economic aspects of inbound tourism from the mainland must be reported on in detail, but by totally suppressing the personal stories that are behind the boom, genuine warmth, friendliness and hospitality directed at the visitors from the mainland can hardly be nurtured.
And if the audience is bombarded with news showing people like that Belgian health practitioner or me as someone you can be friends with, but at the same time is force-fed the impression that mainlanders are nothing but anonymous dots in Taiwan's macroeconomic statistics, then mainland tourists themselves are made to feel unwelcome.
The Taiwan media has in recent years formed a consensus against the reporting of suicides that could encourage copycats, helping bring down the suicide rate.
If they could also share a consensus that mainland tourists are people too, everyone would benefit.
The author is a Taipei-based freelance journalist. opinion@globaltimes.com.cn