Last year's tourism revenue hit NT$366.8 billion; Japanese visitors were the biggest spenders, shelling out $265 per day

▲2013 full-year tourism foreign exchange earnings hit a record high. Pictured is Taipei 101, a popular tourist attraction in Taiwan. (Photo / File photo)

Travel Center / Comprehensive Report

The Tourism Bureau of the Ministry of Transportation and Communications announced on the 9th the full-year 2013 tourism foreign exchange earnings. A total of 8.01 million visitor arrivals to Taiwan generated a combined income of US$12.322 billion (approximately NT$366.8 billion), marking a 4.7% increase from the previous year.

The Tourism Bureau conducted the "Visitor Consumption and Travel Trend Survey" at Taoyuan International Airport, Kaohsiung International Airport (KHH), and Songshan Airport. The survey results showed that in 2013, the average daily spending per visitor to Taiwan was US$224.07, a decrease of 4.37% compared to 2012.

Among all markets, Japanese visitors had the highest average daily expenditure at US$265.28, followed by mainland Chinese visitors (US$259.64). In terms of specific spending categories, shopping expenses were highest among mainland Chinese visitors (US$142.57 per person per day), followed by Japanese visitors (US$62.76). From a market perspective, except for the Japanese and mainland Chinese markets, the average per diem spending in all other markets showed positive growth, with South Korea recording the highest increase at 7.23%.

Regarding the Japanese market, the depreciation of the Japanese yen led to a significant decrease in the number of Japanese outbound travelers, and their spending in Taiwan also became more conservative. In 2013, the average daily spending per Japanese visitor in Taiwan saw a negative growth of 14.05% compared to the previous year. Although the number of Japanese visitors to Taiwan showed negative growth from January to August, it stabilized in September and increased month by month, contributing approximately US$1.818 billion in tourism revenue.

For mainland Chinese visitors as a whole, the average daily spending per person in Taiwan saw a negative growth of 2.12% compared to the previous year. In 2013, due to the relaxation of restrictions on independent travel for mainland Chinese visitors, the number of independent travelers gradually increased month by month. The total number of mainland Chinese visitors to Taiwan reached 2.87 million (an 11.15% increase from 2012), with estimated tourism revenue of about US$5.531 billion.

% Urgent 02 average daily spending per visitor to Taiwan by year (Unit: USD)