Sun, Feb 02, 2025 page2

• Foreign visitors still less than pre-COVID-19 level

  FALLING STATISTICS: The decline in Chinese visitors was due to Beijing’s ban on tour group visits, while the weak yen has held back Japanese from traveling abroad

  • Staff writer, with CNA
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  The number of foreign visitors has failed to rebound to pre-COVID-19 pandemic levels, with the expected 7.5 million to 8 million overseas visitors last year well below the 11.86 million who arrived in 2019.

  There were 2.23 million fewer Chinese visitors in the first month of last year compared with the same period in 2019, or an 86 percent decline, due to Beijing’s ban on tour group visits to Taiwan, which accounted for a sizeable chunk of the fall.

  Another key segment that has fallen off is Japanese visitors, a surprising phenomenon given the traditionally strong demand for travel to Taiwan in Japan.

  

  Japanese actor Satoshi Tsumabuki, who was named Taiwan’s tourism ambassador last year, eats Taiwanese dishes in front of Ci Sheng Temple in Taipei in an undated promotional photograph by the Tourism Administration.

  Photo courtesy of the Tourism Administration

  Taiwan is not the only destination seeing a decline in Japanese visitors. The number of Japanese tourists traveling overseas has rebounded to only 67 percent of pre-COVID-19 levels, Klook Japan General Manager Wataru Masuda said.

  That percentage is even lower for Taiwan, with Japanese visitor numbers in the first 11 months of last year at about 60 percent of the level seen in the same period in 2019, representing a fall of roughly 770,000 visitors, Tourism Administration statistics showed.

  Despite those numbers, the situation has begun to turn around, with a 32 percent year-on-year increase in Japanese visitors to Taiwan last year, Masuda said, adding that there were signs that promotions were making younger Japanese more willing to visit Taiwan.

  For Masuda, there was little doubt about what held back the Japanese outbound travel market.

  The weak yen, which has increased the cost of going abroad for Japanese residents, is the primary culprit, he said.

  Another factor is that less than 20 percent of Japanese have passports, which is somewhat ironic given that Japan was ranked as having one of the world’s most powerful passports last year, with visa-free access to 194 of 227 places.

  Additionally, the younger generation is less likely to go abroad due to the growing social perception that overseas travel is a luxury, an idea reinforced by the high cost and low frequency of travel, Masuda said.

  “We can’t control the first factor [the exchange rate], but we hope we can take some steps to influence the younger generation on the second and third points,” Masuda added.

  To rekindle interest in Taiwan, Klook Japan appealed to the younger generation by working with influencers on travel marketing campaigns tied to promotional offers, which aim to reduce the financial burdens of travel, Masuda said.

  One example was the “Taiwan the Lucky Land” campaign, a draw launched by the Tourism Administration, which gives visitors to Taiwan the chance to win vouchers worth NT$5,000 (US$151).

  That promotion led to more than 10,000 hotel bookings by Japanese on Klook over a five-month period, Masuda said.

  Another example was an exclusive discount on high-speed rail tickets for foreigners in September last year, which led to a 208 percent increase in Klook’s ticket sales to Japanese tourists within two months, he said.

  That resulted in a 300 percent increase in Klook sales of Taiwan travel products last year, far higher than the 80 percent increase in travel sales to the rest of the world.

  “There is even more opportunity for growth in 2025,” Masuda said.

  Although Japanese travelers’ interests before and after COVID-19 have not changed much, they now seem to put a higher priority on the safety and cleanliness of the destinations they visit, Masuda said, adding that that should make Taiwan more appealing as a destination.

  Its close proximity to Japan, affordable airfares, natural scenery, tasty food and convenient transportation are factors Taiwan could use to appeal to Japanese tourists, Masuda added.

  South Korea, which remains the top tourist destination for Japanese travelers, has some of those same advantages, but the two destinations represent different things to Japanese, Masuda said.

  “South Korea is K-pop and spicy foods, while Taiwan is scenery, braised pork rice and xiaolongbao [小籠包, steamed buns],” Masuda said, citing areas that Taiwan could emphasize to entice Japanese tourists to keep coming back.

  One other area that could rekindle a rebound, especially among younger visitors, are digital apps that Klook is planning for this year, including one that breaks down language barriers by directly translating information on a smartphone screen.

  “Language is still a major barrier for Japanese travelers,” Masuda said.
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