The number of Japanese tourists visiting Taiwan fell by 3.4 percent year-on-year in the January-to-September period, but the data for September are more encouraging, the Tourism Bureau said yesterday.
The bureau said the devaluation of the yen has increased costs for Japanese tourists, making them less willing to travel abroad. Bureau statistics show that the number of Japanese tourists grew by 7.25 percent in January this year, but then the number plunged by 23.75 percent in February.
Although the number climbed 2.21 percent in March, it declined in the period from April through August as a whole — with a decline of 4.76 percent in April, 6.73 percent in May, 1.29 percent in June, 3.77 percent in July and 36 percent in August.
However, the number of Japanese visitors increased by 3.74 percent in September.
When comparing the bureau’s statistics from January to August with those of other countries in Asia, the bureau said that Taiwan was doing relatively well.
The number of Japanese tourists was down 7.6 percent in China, 23.9 percent in South Korea, 7.8 percent in Hong Kong, 13.3 percent in Macau and 4.9 percent in Singapore, the bureau said.
Thailand saw a 13.9 percent increase in Japanese tourists over the same period, the bureau said.
Meanwhile, bureau statistics show that the difference between the number of Taiwanese traveling to Japan and that of Japanese tourists visiting Taiwan is widening.
According to the bureau, about 2.86 million Taiwanese traveled to Japan from January to September this year, an increase of 27.6 percent compared with the same period last year.
The bureau estimates that the total could near 3.5 million this year, as about 300,000 Taiwanese visit Japan every month.
However, the bureau estimates that the number of Japanese visiting Taiwan would be between 1.5 million to 1.6 million this year, adding that the total number of Japanese visitors last year was 1.63 million.
Aside from the devaluation of the yen, Shih Shin University associate professor Chen Jiayu (陳家瑜) said the outbreak of Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) in South Korea earlier this year had prompted many Taiwanese to choose Japan as a travel destination.
She said Taiwanese also like Japan and its culture, and the cheap flights offered by budget airlines also encourage them to travel there.
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