Domestic travel during the Lunar New Year holiday more than doubled from last year, thanks to favorable weather and a strong economy, Minister of Transportation and Communications Chen Shih-kai (陳世凱) said.
Average daily visits to tourist attractions reached 730,000 over the holiday, up 109 percent from 350,000 per day last year, Chen told the Ministry of Transportation and Communications’ Lunar New Year gathering.
He also thanked staff for their efforts in managing holiday transportation operations, adding that public satisfaction was high.
Photo Courtesy of Kaohsiung City Government’s Tourism Bureau
From Tuesday last week to Sunday, national scenic areas recorded 3.87 million visits, averaging 645,314 per day — a 125 percent increase from last year’s daily average of 286,765. Visits peaked on Thursday with a total of 843,096 visits in a single day.
Theme parks, a popular choice for families, attracted 526,372 visitors over the same six-day period, averaging 87,729 per day — up 32 percent from a year earlier. Daily attendance exceeded 100,000 on Thursday and Friday.
Travel demand was highest between Tuesday and Friday, when more than 2.98 million visits were logged — more than two-thirds of the six-day total, the Tourism Administration said.
On the final day of the holiday, about 300,000 people were still traveling, reflecting increasingly flexible travel patterns, it added.
Mountain and coastal destinations, such as Alishan, northern coastal scenic areas, Sun Moon Lake and the Yunlin-Chiayi-Tainan region, saw strong crowds, the agency said.
Many visitors opted for mountain trails, seaside landscapes and historic old streets, providing a boost to local businesses and related industries, it said.
“With Taiwan’s economy performing well, both international and domestic travel were brisk over the holiday,” Chen said, adding that rail services handled a total of 9 million passenger trips during the period.
Although he did not take a vacation himself, Chen said he made one round trip on the Taiwan High Speed Rail and drove on freeways between Taichung and Taipei twice.
Traffic felt heavier than usual due to the extended holiday and heavy travel demand, but congestion did not last long and remained within acceptable limits, he said.
“Transportation is not built on the minister’s expertise alone, but on the professionalism of everyone,” Chen said, thanking ministry personnel for their efforts.
He also expressed hope that travelers feel tangible improvements in traffic safety and convenience.
At Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, passenger volume reached 169,000 on Feb. 14, setting a new single-day record for Taiwan’s airports and surpassing pre-COVID-19 pandemic levels. On the final day of the holiday, the airport handled 162,000 passengers, close to its pre-pandemic high.
Despite challenges, such as heavy fog in some areas, the Civil Aviation Administration and the Maritime and Port Bureau promptly activated contingency transport plans to ensure travelers were able to return to work smoothly, Chen said.
He also credited the Central Weather Administration for providing accurate daily forecasts, which helped travelers plan ahead and contributed to the surge in domestic tourism.
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