Macau, HK visitors to Taiwan up 7.6pct

The number of international visitors to Taiwan fell almost 6 percent in the first six months of 2017, despite a 7.6 percent increase in arrivals from Macau and Hong Kong, according to Taiwan’s Ministry of Transportation and Communications.

The drop was led by a significant decrease in visitors from mainland China – the island’s biggest tourism market – which accounted for about 1.26 million of the 5.12 million visitors between January and June.

The number of mainland visitors plummeted to a five-year low in the six-month period, representing a 40 percent decline compared to the same period in 2016.

Meanwhile, arrivals from Macau and Hong Kong increased 7.6 percent to 810,000, while those from Japan increased 1.2 percent to 890,000.

Visitors from South Korea showed the strongest growth, posting a 30 percent increase year-on-year to 530,000.

Conversely, some 1.18 million Taiwanese visitors traveled to Macau and Hong Kong in the six-month period, while 1.92 million visited mainland China.