Tourism | Package tours (still) on the rise

The number of visitors on package tours increased 13.2 pct
year-on-year to 983,000 in February, according to the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC). Package tour visitors from Mainland China increased 21.5% year-on-year, to 804,000, with 418,000 coming from Guangdong Province.
Visitors from the Republic of Korea (41,000) and Hong Kong (39,000) increased 7.7 pct and 8.1 pct respectively year-on-year, whereas those from Taiwan (53,000) decreased 12 pct. In the first two months of 2015, visitors on package tours reached 1,940,000, up by 16.8 pct year-on-year.
There were 97 hotels and guesthouses operating at the end of February 2015, providing 28,000 guest rooms, up 1 pct year-on-
year; 5-star hotels accounted for 65.2 pct of the total supply, with 18,000 rooms.
A total of 756,000 guests checked into hotels and guesthouses in February 2015, down by 9.9 pct year-on-year. Guests from mainland China (512,000) and Hong Kong (87,000) decreased 6.4 pct and 16.2 pct. The average length of stay of guests held stable as February 2014, at 1.4 nights.
The average occupancy rate of hotels and guesthouses tumbled 11.3 percentage points year-on-
year, to 80.2 pct, with 5-star hotels leading at 83.3 pct. In the first two months of 2015, hotel guests totaled 1,559,000, down by 8.9 pct year-on-year; the average occupancy rate stood at 79.8 pct,
a decrease of 6.1 percentage points. Visitor-guests accounted for 66.5 pct of the total overnight visitors, down by 1.9 percentage points year-on-year.

travel agencies with more local clients

Outbound residents using the services of travel agencies numbered 135,000 in February 2015, up 10.2 pct year-on-year; those travelling on package tours surged 29.1 pct to 56,000, with the main destinations being Mainland China (80.7 pct of total), the Republic of Korea (5.2 pct), Taiwan (3.9 pct) and Hong Kong (3.4 pct). In the first two months of 2015, outbound residents using travel agencies totaled 247,000, up 3.6 pct
year-on-year.