Although the number of Chinese tourists in groups dropped by 15 percent last month compared with the same period last year, the percentage of individual travelers from China rose 12 percent, according to government sources familiar with the matter.
Amid speculation that China might reduce the number of Chinese allowed to visit Taiwan as the administration of President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) — who refuses to recognize Beijing’s “one China” principle — was sworn in, what really happened was that, although the number of tour groups went down, the number of individual visitors increased, the sources said.
There were 15 percent less Chinese who visited Taiwan last month than in May last year, when 372,766 Chinese tourists visited the nation, with tourists in groups down by 31 percent year-on-year, the people said.
However, the number of travelers from China visiting Taiwan on their own rose 12 percent last month from a year ago, the sources said.
About 4.18 million Chinese visited the nation last year, accounting for 40 percent of all foreign visitors and constituting a significant economic impact on businesses catering to tour groups.
Despite the rumors, the overall number of Chinese visitors was still on the rise in April, up by 4.8 percent from a year earlier at more than 370,000 people, according to Tourism Bureau statistics.
However, group tour visitor numbers had already begun to decline, falling 2.9 percent year-on-year.
A bed-and-breakfast operator in Hualien City, surnamed Huang (黃), told reporters that she felt fewer Chinese visited Hualien since the second half of last year, adding that she had heard that several bed-and-breakfasts catering to Chinese tour groups outside the city had shut down or were up for sale.
On May 26, Minister of Transportation and Communications Hochen Tan (賀陳旦) said Chinese travelers have become an “uncertain” factor for Taiwan’s tourism, adding that the number of travelers from China was gradually declining.
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