Tourism in 2002-2003

As introduced by the Yearbook of the Republic of China:

In-Bound Tourism

Excluding arrivals from China, Taiwan registered 2,726,411 visitor arrivals in 2002. This was an increase of 109,274 over the year before, or a growth of 4.18 percent. Foreign visitors totaled 2,354,017, for an increase of 62,146, or up 2.71 percent, over 2001's 2,291,871. Overseas Chinese visitors numbered 372,394, up 47,127 or 14.49 percent over the 325,266 recorded the year before.

The Tourism Bureau promotes Taiwan through its Internet homepage in Chinese, English and Japanese, and through the efforts of its overseas branches. The Seoul branch, which was closed following the rupture of diplomatic ties with South Korea, was reopened in 1995, and a Hong Kong branch was inaugurated in June 1996. In May 1999, the establishment of an Osaka branch office brought the Tourism Bureau's total number of overseas offices to ten.

In 2002, Japan continued to contribute the largest number of visitors to Taiwan with 986,053, an increase of 1.53 percent from 2001. Hong Kong remained Taiwan's second-largest source of visitors, totaling 435,080, an increase of 10.83 percent from 2001. The United States was Taiwan's third largest source of visitors, totaling 354,087, or a 4.33 percent increase from 2001.

Visitors from Singapore increased by 10.96 percent to 107,380. Arrivals from Indonesia (86,792) and the Philippines (74,261) consisted largely of contract workers. Visitors from Thailand, another major source of contract workers, totaled 105,800, a decrease of 9.12 percent; and arrivals from Malaysia increased 13.79 percent to 64,671.

Visitors from Europe decreased by 0.62 percent in 2001, with the Netherlands having the largest drop of 7.22 percent to 10,240. The United Kingdom was the largest source of European visitors to Taiwan, with 34,116, a 1.55 percent increase; followed by Germany at 33,497, a decrease of 0.66 percent. France ranked third with 20,198 visitors, followed by Italy (10,665) and then the Netherlands (10,240).

Visitors from Australia and New Zealand increased 4.94 percent in 2002, with arrivals from Australia totaling 31,543 and New Zealand totaling 6,139. The number of visitors from Canada increased 6.48 percent to 42,904, and those from South Africa increased 10.8 percent to 5,753. Korean visitors declined by 3.06 percent to 80,155, while those from India increased by 6.71 percent to 13,982.

The figure below shows Taiwan's overseas visitors by country of residence in 2002:

Out-Bound Tourism

The final destinations of outbound travelers are not completely clear, since ROC citizens going abroad are no longer required to fill out departure cards stating their destination. In compiling destination figures, therefore, officials must rely on the first landing point of the flights on which travelers leave Taiwan, contributing much to inaccuracy. It is clear, however, that most passengers travel to destinations within Asia, especially Hong Kong, Macao, and Japan, where most transit to their final destinations in China. Taiwan residents traveling to Hong Kong numbered 2,582,837 in 2002, up 11.32 percent, while visitors to Macao rose by 10.48 percent to 1,273,644 and visitors to Japan increased by 7.20 percent to 795,227. Travel within Asia as a whole totaled 6,323,498, up 8.04 percent.

The United States attracted the fourth largest group of outbound travelers in 2002, totaling 536,508, down 1.15 percent from the previous year. Travel to Canada decreased by 4.41 percent to 132,994. Trips to Europe as a whole decreased by 7.32 percent for the year to 244,617, with the greatest number traveling to the Netherlands (129,550), followed by the United Kingdom (26,052). Travel to New Zealand was down 38.5 percent to 35,459, while trips to Australia increased by 47.45 percent to 56,060.

New Attractions

To attract more foreign tourists and provide local residents with more cultural and recreational activities, the Tourism Bureau sponsored two major annual events in 2003: the Taiwan Lantern Festival in Taichung and the Taiwan Chinese Food Festival.

The Lantern Festival, usually in February, is a cultural extravaganza featuring displays of traditional and modern decorative lanterns, folk arts performances, handicraft demonstrations, and religious processions. The 2003 Taiwan Lantern Festival was held from February 15 to March 23.

In association with the Taiwan Visitors Association, the Tourism Bureau sponsored the 2003 Taiwan Chinese Food Festival August 7-10, whose featured food for this year was the tomato. The festival focuses on Chinese cuisine in all its regional variations but is becoming more international in scope every year. In addition to the display and sale of a vast number of artistically presented dishes, the festival also offers demonstrations, contests, workshops, and other activities.