Taiwan Tourism Bureau shows in a recent survey conducted that Chinese from the Mainland spent on average in Taiwan US$ 270 in 2011, up by 15% over 2009.
TAIPEI- Chinese tourists are big spenders, especially when it comes to shopping. This is the conclusion of a study undergone by Taiwan Tourism Bureau over spending habits from Mainland Chinese travellers. From 2009 to 2011, tourists from China PRC in Taiwan went up on a daily basis from US$ 234.26 to US$ 270.31 on a daily basis. While shopping expenses rose from US$117.50 daily per person in 2009 to US$159.9 last year, spending on accommodation went down. Statistics from the bureau show that accommodation cost has dropped from US$71.43 per day in 2009 to US$44.51. The survey takes into consideration both Chinese tourists arriving on a tour and individuals (FIT).
Chinese FITs’ evolution remains disappointing due to restrictions taking place such as minimum-income requirement. The strict rule was reflected in the low number of FITs to Taiwan, estimated by the Bureau to only reach in one year time 90,000 Chinese who left some US$ 140 million in the Island. The number of tourists travelling from the Chinese mainland to Taiwan has reached 4.06 million since mainland tourists were given permission to travel there back to 2008, generating estimated revenues of US$ 6.77 billion for the island, a Taiwanese affairs official said last Wednesday. In 2011, 1.78 million Mainland Chinese came as tourists to Taiwan, a number up by 9.4% over 2010. China is already Taiwan tourism’s largest market ahead of Japan (1.2 million travellers) and Hong Kong/Macau (0.82 million travellers.
Luc Citrinot a French national is a freelance journalist and consultant in tourism and air transport with over 20 years experience. Based in Paris and Bangkok, he works for various travel and air transport trade publications in Europe and Asia.
