China’s second-largest direct marketing company, Perfect (China) Commodity Co, is in the process of sending 130 tour groups, consisting of a total of 5,200 people, to Taiwan over a five day period.
While this may seem like a lot of people, statistics from the Tourism Bureau paint a different picture of Chinese tourists.
On Wednesday, the bureau released a report on the spending habits of tourists who visited Taiwan last year.
The report showed that Chinese tourists spent more on shopping here than Japanese tourists, spending an average of US$117 per day, approximately equivalent to NT$3,800, which was 50 percent more than tourists from Malaysia, who were listed as spending the second most on shopping.
However, the report showed that Japanese tourists spent the most on accommodation and food, spending an average of NT$10,000 per day in these areas, which was 35 percent more than tourists from China.
According to the report, one million Japanese tourists visited Taiwan last year, which was a drop off of approximately 8 percent from 2008.
Japanese tourists still contributed the most foreign income to Taiwan’s economy, accounting for a total of NT$60 billion, the report showed.
Chinese tourists were listed as second, with 970,000 visiting Taiwan, almost double the number in 2008, bringing in approximately NT$51 billion.
The bureau’s statistics showed that after the decision two years ago to allow Chinese tourists to travel to Taiwan, the increase in Chinese tourists has corresponded to a drop in the overall amount of money spent by tourists in Taiwan.
The bureau said that with the increase in the number of Chinese tourists to Taiwan, the influence of their expenditures on Taiwan’s economy has increased.
The Chinese tourists who initially visited Taiwan were those with high incomes, but now lower income Chinese are coming and this has naturally led to a decrease in the overall spend per tourist.
The report showed 4.39 million people visited Taiwan last year and spending a total of US$6.8 billion (NT$219 billion), an increase of approximately 14 percent and the highest amount Taiwan has ever made from tourism.
The report also showed that last year, tourists who came to Taiwan for business, in tour groups and those who visited individually spent an average of US$216, approximately NT$7,000 per day, on accommodation, food, transport and shopping.
Meanwhile, the first tour group from Perfect (China) Commodity Co, made up of 440 people, arrived at Kaohsiung Siaogang Airport on Thursday and proceeded to travel by bus to Kenting and elsewhere.
However, the nine-day trip to Taiwan does not include Kaohsiung and Tainan. When asked, tour members said they didn’t know whether political factors were a factor.
Taipei has once again made it to the top 100 in Oxford Economics’ Global Cities Index 2025 report, moving up five places from last year to 60. The annual index, which was published last month, evaluated 1,000 of the most populated metropolises based on five indices — economics, human capital, quality of life, environment and governance. New York maintained its top spot this year, placing first in the economics index thanks to the strength of its vibrant financial industry and economic stability. Taipei ranked 263rd in economics, 44th in human capital, 15th in quality of life, 284th for environment and 75th in governance,
The Sports Administration yesterday demanded an apology from the national table tennis association for barring 17-year-old Yeh Yi-tian (葉伊恬) from competing in the upcoming World Table Tennis (WTT) United States Smash tournament in Las Vegas this July. The sports agency said in a statement that the Chinese Taipei Table Tennis Association (CTTTA) must explain to the public why it withdrew Yeh from the WTT tournament in Las Vegas. The sports agency said it contacted the association to express its disapproval of the decision-making process after receiving a complaint from Yeh’s coach, Chuang
Control Yuan Secretary-General Lee Chun-yi (李俊俋) tendered his resignation last night, admitting that he had misused a government vehicle, as reported by media. His resignation was immediately accepted by the Control Yuan. In a statement explaining why he had resigned, Lee apologized for using a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a pet grooming salon on May 20. The issue first came to light late last month, when TVBS News reported that Lee had instructed his driver to take the dog to the salon. The news channel broadcast photos that it said were taken by an unnamed whistle-blower, which purportedly showed the
A former officer in China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) who witnessed the aftermath of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre has warned that Taiwan could face a similar fate if China attempts to unify the country by force. Li Xiaoming (李曉明), who was deployed to Beijing as a junior officer during the crackdown, said Taiwanese people should study the massacre carefully, because it offers a glimpse of what Beijing is willing to do to suppress dissent. “What happened in Tiananmen Square could happen in Taiwan too,” Li told CNA in a May 22 interview, ahead of the massacre’s 36th anniversary. “If Taiwanese students or
RSS