Each family in Taiwan spent an average of NT$20,456 (US$585) on leisure travel last year, the lowest amount since 1996, according to a report released by the Ministry of Transportation and Communications yesterday.
That was a 13-percent spending decrease from the 2000 level and also the largest annual decline in six years, the ministry report said.
Broken down by area, the report revealed that Taipei City residents topped the list in terms of the amount spent on travel in 2001, with each family spending an average of NT$41,000. Nevertheless, the amount represented a 21-percent drop from the year-earlier level.
In comparison, the average amount each Kaohsiung family spent on travel slid by 18 percent from the year-earlier level to NT$17,000.
Ministry officials attributed the decline in average household travel spending mainly to the lingering sluggishness of the domestic economy .
The report was based on a Tourism Bureau survey on local people's travel activities last year and on a household income-expenditure survey conducted by the Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics.
According to the report, residents made an average of 5.3 domestic trips last year, with each trip covering 1.5 destinations and spanning 1.7 days on average.
Most trips involved automobile travel, with food and transport jointly accounting for 50 percent of expenditures.
Residents also made an average of 0.32 overseas trips last year, spending an average of 10 nights abroad. Thirty-five percent of outbound travelers went to China, while 23 percent headed to Southeast Asia.
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