Taiwan wants to lure higher-spending travellers from South-east Asia as Chinese arrivals dwindle, a shift that could reshape the island’s tourism industry.
Hotel revenues and the number of local travel agencies have returned to where they were before the pandemic, a positive sign for the tourism sector despite the number of Chinese visitors remaining stubbornly low. Only around 99,000 mainland Chinese came to Taiwan in the first quarter, compared with about 793,000 in the first three months of 2019, according to the tourism data.
Japanese tourism into Taiwan is at just 69 per cent compared with the first quarter of 2019, as more people stay home amid the currency weakness. While tourism represents a tiny portion of Taiwan’s technology-focused, export-oriented economy, it does employ a significant number of people, especially in poorer rural and southern areas of the island.Tainan turns 400: Why Taiwan’s oldest city and food capital is worth a visit this year