Taiwan’s hotel room rates are too high, but when the government subsidized the domestic travel industry, some hotel owners increased room prices, leading people to prefer travel abroad to excursions in Taiwan.
Moreover, the number of Japanese visiting Taiwan is not as high as expected.
Data released by the Tourism Administration showed that while the number of Japanese visiting Taiwan has reached 50 percent of pre-COVID-19 pandemic figures, those traveling to South Korea and Southeast Asia have surpassed 80 percent.
Japanese visit South Korea because of the proximity of the two countries, while they visit Vietnam and Thailand because travel in those nations is cheap and the sightseeing spots are relatively new to them, some academics say.
This indicates that Japanese tourists are quite sensitive to price differences after the pandemic.
Domestic travel in Taiwan has been declining because of an unsatisfactory ration of cost to performance.
A good hotel room costs at least NT$5,000 to NT$6,000 a night, a better one is about NT$10,000 and a high-end one would be NT$20,000 to NT$30,000.
Meanwhile, a night at a five-star hotel in Shinjuku in Tokyo costs the equivalent of about NT$6,000, while a standard room is NT$3,000 to NT$4,000, meaning Taiwan’s hotel room rates are 60 percent to 100 percent more expensive than in Japan.
How can the country expect to attract foreign tourists?
If the occupancy rates of the nation’s hotels is to be increased, service standards must improve, and, more importantly, better deals are needed for clean, comfortable rooms.
Given that Taiwan is still among the top three overseas destinations for Japanese, the nation must develop more ways to attract them.
It should focus on people aged 50 or older, as they are better-off, usually have more leisure time and many have not been to Taiwan.
There should be a focus on places in Taiwan that have links to Japanese history, culture and art, as such visitors would want to experience how their nation’s past is intertwined with Taiwan’s present.
Taiwan’s old Japanese buildings would fit the bill.
Taiwan should promote such attractions in ways that are most familiar to the target groups and welcome such visitors as valued guests.
This would boost the nation’s hospitality industry for years to come.
Dino Wei is an information engineer.
Translated by Emma Liu
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