China is No. 1 travel destination

China, Japan and Thailand remain on the top of the list as the favorite travel destination for Taiwanese tourists, according to a survey released by Nielsen Media Research on Thursday.

The survey, which polled 3,750 respondents during the January to June period of the year, showed Hong Kong in fourth place, the same as last year, despite the outbreak of SARS earlier this year.

"Hong Kong's travel volume did suffer a setback because of SARS, but it maintained on the level it marked last year, thanks to business travelers," Nielsen said in the `Life Index' survey.

The SARS outbreak dealt a big blow to Asia's economies, cutting regional demand and business revenue by nearly US$60 billion, the ADB said last week.

The public panic over the disease struck hardest on the region's travel and tourism-related sectors during the height of the epidemic from March to May. But business travel in SARS-affected areas is almost back to normal, after declining 90 percent in May at the height of the epidemic, an American Express report published Thursday said.

"Corporate travel in SARS-impacted markets took only three weeks to hit rock bottom, trading down 90 percent at the end of May, but nine weeks later corporate travel trade had almost fully recovered to the previous year's levels," American Express said.

The Nielsen survey showed that Vietnam passed the US and Canada to squeeze into the top five destinatons, while Singapore -- which used to be one of Taiwanese tourists' favorite resort sites in Asia -- was knocked out of the top 10, as the city-state's economy was also battered by SARS.

The survey also found that individual travelers prefer different destinations than the ones listed on the top 10 list, compared to group travelers. China, Hong Kong and Vietnam topped individual travelers' lists, it showed.

"Language barriers, conveniently-available transportation and the purpose of the trip are the determining factors when people decide whether to travel in a group or individually," said Linda Chang (張小玲), an executive director of Asia Pacific region of Nielsen Media Research.

Though China and Hong Kong were seriously affected by SARS, the two areas were still individual travelers' favorites.

Individual travelers to China, Hong Kong and Singapore accounted for 36 percent of the total travelers, down from the 45 percent recorded last year. The decrease in the number of travelers in the first half was attributed to the fear of exposure to the virus.

The WHO declared SARS under control worldwide in July, but medical experts warned the virus could return during the northern hemisphere's winter period.