Overview

Travel Tourism Market

Unit: USD

Sources: National Travel and Tourism Office with the U.S. Department of Commerce

The United States is the top long-haul destination for Taiwan’s outbound travelers. According to the National Travel and Tourism Office of the U.S. Department of Commerce, before the pandemic the United States welcomed 499,520 Taiwan tourists in 2019 who spent over $3 billion on travel-related goods and services. This amount equates to about $6,038 of expenditures per traveler. More than 50,000 Taiwanese travelers made two to three trips to the United States each year.

Taiwan visitors to the United States most commonly travel for the purpose of vacation and holidays (35 percent), visiting friends and relatives (25 percent), doing business (20 percent), and attending conferences and trade shows (11 percent) (2019 Taiwan Market Profile from the National Travel and Tourism Office with the U.S. Department of Commerce). Regarding traveler characteristics, Taiwan visitors took an average of 69 days to finalize their travel plans, and 17 percent of them booked a pre-arranged package. The average length of stay for Taiwan visitors in the United States is from eight to 16 nights, and they visited an average of 1.6 states.

Taiwan was designated for participation in the visa-waiver program in 2012 and designated for participation in the Global Entry program in 2017. Most of Taiwan’s tourist and business travelers no longer need to apply for non-immigrant visas, and frequent travelers can register with Global Entry for more seamless travel to the United States. The ease of travel between the United States and Taiwan has led to strong gains for the U.S. travel and tourism market. Taiwan travel to the United States has increased by 70 percent since 2012.

Each year more than half of Taiwan’s 23 million people travel abroad for business, education, and leisure. Taiwan’s population shares a cultural perspective with the United States as an international melting pot that attracts many immigrants who bring their own culture and cuisine to the country. Despite its status as a mature market, the tourism industry has room to grow in Taiwan because of the increased demand for MICE (Meeting, Incentive, Conference, and Exhibition) services from U.S. providers.

As Taiwan’s travel market continues to mature, international travel is shifting towards Foreign Independent Travelers (FIT), a market sector of individuals who arrange their own variety of special interest tours, flights, car rental, and accommodations. Because more than 80 percent of the visitors from Taiwan to the United States are FITs, demand is expected to grow for niche travel experiences such as sports travel, adventure tours, health and wellness vacations, honeymoon tours, gastronomic holidays, cruise tours, and youth study travel. Personal ties and business links between the United States and Taiwan contribute to Taiwan’s interest in the United States as a travel destination.

Leading Sub-Sectors

In 2019, California received the most visitors from Taiwan, with nearly half of Taiwan visitors, followed by New York and Nevada. Washington, Texas, Guam, and Hawaii are also attracting a growing number of Taiwan visitors. The top American cities that receive visitors from Taiwan are Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York City, Las Vegas, Seattle, San Jose, Chicago, Boston, San Diego, Honolulu, and Anaheim. New attractions in other American cities could be highly successful among Taiwan tourists, provided that these activities are promoted in gateway cities.

Taiwan visitors enjoy a diverse range of activities in the United States, including shopping (90 percent), sightseeing (77 percent), fine dining (41 percent), visiting art galleries/museums (33 percent), visiting national parks/monuments (29 percent), visiting small towns/the countryside (26 percent), and visiting historical locations, cultural/ethnic heritage sites, casinos/gaming, etc.

The main sources of information for Taiwan travelers considering the United States are airlines (42 percent), personal recommendations from friends and family (33 percent), travel agency offices (24 percent), online travel agencies (20 percent), travel guides (19 percent), corporate travel departments (21 percent), tour operators or travel clubs (7 percent), and national/state/city/ travel offices (6 percent).

Opportunities

Taiwan’s desire for international travel presents new opportunities for American businesses. American travel agencies can be directly represented in Taiwan by a representative office or by designating a General Sales Agent (GSA). They can also work with airlines and state tourism promotion organizations to conduct familiarization tours for tour operators and media personnel. Partnerships are an efficient way to promote new destinations, attractions, hotels, and restaurants in the United States.

The implementation of technology in the Taiwan travel and tourism industry is evolving at a rapid pace. CS Taiwan has initiated eCommerce promotion initiatives to support U.S. •, destinations, and attractions through webinars and social media in Taiwan. As the internet penetration rate in Taiwan is high (93 percent) (source: Taiwan Network Information Center), the U.S. Commercial Service in Taipei has initiated several virtual presentations successfully promoting U.S. destinations.

The U.S. Commercial Service in Taipei also offers cost-effective services such as Single Company Promotion (SCP) or Gold Key Matching Service (GKS) to help American destinations or suppliers to expand their presence in Taiwan or to find the right sales agents.

Major Air Routes to the United States and Hubs

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, Taiwan maintained good flight connections to major U.S. cities with over 800 weekly flights, among which were more than 110 direct flights from Taiwan to several U.S. gateway cities.

United Airlines provided daily services to the United States via Japan and operates non-stop service to San Francisco. Two Taiwan carriers, China Airlines and EVA Air, provided daily non-stop flights to San Francisco, Los Angeles, Seattle, New York, Honolulu, Guam, Houston, and Ontario, California.

The Impact of COVID Pandemic on the U.S. Economy and International Travel

Since July 2022, Taiwan has eased border controls and shortened quarantine for arrivals to only three days. Quarantine requirements are expected to be eliminated soon, and these new policies are expected to reinvigorate Taiwanese interest in international travel. Moreover, with 91 percent of Taiwan’s population already vaccinated with one dose and 83 percent fully vaccinated, travel and tourism to the United States is poised for a strong rebound.

International flight frequency from Taiwan to the United States has already significantly increased. In April 2022, United Airlines resumed daily service from Taiwan to San Francisco. Since July, EVA Airlines has increased routes to North America by 70 percent, from 17 flights per week to 29-33 flights per week. In August, EVA flight schedules to Los Angeles and San Francisco increased to occur daily, and New York, Seattle, Houston, and Chicago resumed several flights per week after more than one year’s hiatus. In August, China Airlines increased U.S.-bound routes by 30 percent from one to two flights to Ontario, CA, and flights to San Francisco increased from three to five flights per week. China Airlines also maintained its five flights a week to Los Angeles. Moreover, a new company, Starlux Airlines, is planning on launching flights to Los Angeles in early 2023.

The return of Taiwanese students for in-person education is further spurring additional Taiwanese travel to the United States. While visiting friends/family studying in the United States, many Taiwanese also seek out local U.S. tours.

Despite the higher costs of private tours, a recent survey revealed Taiwanese have expressed a willingness to pay more when traveling internationally: 72 percent of the interviewees are willing to spend more than they spent on their last overseas trip; among those, 85 percent would accept a 20 percent increase, and 12 percent would accept a 21 percent to 40 percent price increase.

Resources

• Discover America Committee in Taiwan (http://www.discoveramerica.org.tw)
• Brand USA Taiwan Representative Office (http://www.gousa.tw/
• Tourism Bureau, Ministry of Transportation and Communications
• Taipei Tourism Exposition Organizer (http://www.tata.org.tw/)
• Taipei International Travel Fair Organizer

U.S. firms interested in learning more about Taiwan’s outbound travel and tourism market, as well as expanding U.S. export opportunities to Taiwan at the trade shows mentioned above are encouraged to contact CS Taipei Specialist Madison Yao at madison.yao@trade.gov or visit our website.