Despite a burgeoning tourism industry, the government needs to focus on increasing the length of visitors’ stays if it wants to increase revenue, academics and tourism industry insiders have said.
Foreign visitor arrivals last year exceeded 10 million for the fourth consecutive year and Taiwan in April welcomed a record 1.101 million foreign visitors, Tourism Bureau statistics showed.
Based on current trends, visitor numbers could top 12 million this year, Providence University Department of Tourism associate professor Huang Cheng-tsung (黃正聰) said on Sunday.
The tourism industry has performed well recently thanks to a rebound in the number of Chinese tourists and Japan’s celebration of the longest-ever Golden Week holiday, Shih-Hsin University Department of Tourism associate professor Chen Chia-yu (陳家瑜) said, adding that the growth in visitor numbers from these two markets is enough to raise the overall performance of Taiwan’s tourism sector.
Visitor arrivals have increased over the past few years, but has not kept pace with tourism revenue, she said.
In the past, the industry relied on Chinese tour groups on eight-day stays, but visitors now originate from more diverse places — such as Japan, South Korea and Southeast Asia — and only stay for four to five days, she said.
The government should not only focus on visitor numbers, but also try to extend the time that visitors spend in Taiwan, she said.
When travelers stay longer, they are more likely to visit central and southern Taiwan, spreading the benefits of tourism nationwide and bringing in more revenue, she said.
The first four months of the year are the peak tourist season, especially since Japanese, South Korean and Chinese tourists prefer to travel in the spring, said Lin Tai-yu (林泰宇), special assistant to the chairman of Dadova Travel Service.
An increase in flights, a rise in available seats, and the depreciation of the New Taiwan dollar have also driven the overall growth of tourism, he said.
Lin said that the government should work with tourism businesses in central and southern Taiwan to develop a more diverse array of products, especially high-end tours.
In contrast to low-cost tours from Japan and South Korea over the past few years, on which travelers could visit Taiwan for four days at a cost of NT$10,000, including airfare, a four-day Michelin Guide Taipei-themed trip could cost upward of NT$40,000, he said.
“It is a shame the government spent money bringing Michelin to Taiwan, yet did not follow through on marketing the Michelin Guide Taipei,” he said.
The relatively affordable cost of golfing in Taiwan compared with Japan and South Korea and opportunities to visit petting zoos and experience farm life, which are rare in other countries, are some of the advantages of the tourism sector that could help Taiwan turn visitor numbers into revenue, he added.
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