A total of 1,624 illegal accommodations were reported last year, with fines totaling about NT$120.13 million (US$3.8 million), the Tourism Administration said.
The agency recently released last year’s statistics, and said that the inspections of accommodation facilities — hotels and guesthouses — showed that nationwide, there were 3,281 legal hotels, 27 fewer from the previous year.
There were 12,551 legal homestays, an increase of 407 year-on-year, the data showed.
Photo: Chen Hsin-yu, Taipei Times
Illegal hotels last year totaled 1,058, an increase of 31 from the previous year, while 566 illegal homestays were reported, a decrease of 21, the agency said.
A total of 16,254 inspections were conducted nationwide, resulting in 1,261 fines amounting to about NT$120.13 million, agency data showed.
In Taipei, 585 legal accommodations and 268 illegal ones were reported, with illegal properties accounting for about 31.4 percent — the highest in number and proportion nationwide — while 11 illegal accommodations in the city were daily rental apartments, the data showed.
Taichung has 505 legal accommodations and 207 illegal ones, with illegal properties making up about 29 percent, ranking second in proportion and third nationwide in number, the data showed.
Yilan ranks second in the number of illegal accommodations with 229, but has 2,480 legal ones, resulting in an illegal share of only 8.45 percent.
Kaohsiung has 530 legal accommodations and 125 illegal ones, with illegal properties accounting for about 19 percent, ranking third nationwide.
Regarding the number of fines issued, Taipei ranked first with 256 cases, Tainan second with 171 and Yilan third with 169, the data showed.
As for total fines imposed, Tainan ranked highest with NT$20.454 million, followed by Taipei with NT$20.35 million and Taichung with NT$20.18 million.
The Tourism Administration said that changes in the number of hotels have been minimal and are likely the result of operators entering or exiting the market based on their own business considerations.
The year-on-year increase in homestays indicates that homestays, which are typically family side businesses operating out of spare rooms in private residences, are less affected than hotels, which are more prone to suspending operations due to cost considerations, it said.
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