For the first time in its history, Taiwan tourism generated over ten billion dollars of foreign revenues. A result due to the strong growth of tourist arrivals to the island, especially from Mainland China.
Taiwan’s tourism industry generated annual foreign exchange earnings of over US$ 10 billion last year for the first time, Taiwan Tourism Bureau announced last week. The US$ 11.06 billion in foreign exchange earnings from tourism in 2011 represented a 26.91 % annual increase, the bureau said, citing a recent survey.
The increase resulted from a record-breaking 6.08 million foreign tourist arrivals last year, said Lin Pei-chun, a bureau official. “Taiwan’s shopping appeal for foreign tourists is far stronger than we had expected,” Lin said.
According to CNA English News, among all foreign visitors, Japanese were the biggest spenders last year, registering US$ 348 in daily consumption, an annual growth of 23 %, she said. Chinese visitors also showed great interest in shopping, spending 60 percent of their budget on that activity, Lin said. According to the survey, most foreign visitors expressed satisfaction after visiting Taiwan, with 94 % saying they will consider return visits. The highest satisfaction rate – 98 %- was among Chinese tourists, Lin said.
Meanwhile, the three most popular tourist attractions in Taiwan are night markets, the Taipei 101 skyscraper and the National Palace Museum, the survey found. The tourists also said they were most impressed by the hospitality of Taiwanese, the country’s gourmet food and the unique ambiance of the night markets.
The survey collected 6,009 valid samples at Taiwan’s three largest international airports Jan. 1- Dec. 31, 2011. It had a margin of error of 3 percentage points.
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.
