More than 120,000 people from Taiwan traveled to the US between January and April, with those visiting for tourism rising by 12.3 percent from the same period last year, US official statistics showed.
A total of 124,293 Taiwanese traveled to the US in the first four months of the year, making Taiwan the 18th-largest source of the US’ visitors, Visit USA Committee Taiwan head Brenda Tang (唐靜儀) said at a quarterly meeting of the committee, citing data from the US National Travel and Tourism Office (NTTO).
Notably, the number of Taiwanese visitors who arrive for tourism, business and education purposes showed significant growth, with visits for tourism alone increasing by 12.3 percent compared with the same period last year, Tang said.
Photo: Tsai Yun-jung, Taipei Times
Favorable exchange rates, the launch of Starlux Airlines’ new route to Ontario, California, and EVA Airways’ upcoming service to Dallas later this year should all contribute to further growth, she said.
The goal is to restore visitor numbers to at least 80 percent of pre-COVID-19 levels, she said.
NTTO data showed that 499,520 Taiwanese visited the US in 2019, compared with 398,813 last year.
However, Tourism Administration figures showed that outbound departures of Taiwanese to the US were already close to reaching pre-COVID-19 levels last year, with departures totaling 532,130.
Outbound departures to the US in 2017, 2018 and 2019 prior to COVID-19 were 574,512, 569,180 and 550,978 respectively, data showed.
Tang said the US would bolster promotional efforts in Taiwan, including participating in the Taipei International Travel Fair (ITF) and the Tainan Travel Fair, both slated for November.
Meanwhile, Brand USA Taiwan representative Milane Tsai (蔡璧如) said US tourism marketing would adopt a multifaceted approach, including physical and virtual seminars, trade partner training, joint marketing with airlines and trade show marketing.
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