Chiayi City, Miaoli County and Tainan have higher average hotel booking rates during the Lunar New Year holiday than other administrative regions, the Tourism Administration said yesterday.
Chiayi City, Miaoli County and Tainan surpassed other administrative regions with higher average hotel booking rates — at 55.91 percent, 51.32 percent and 49.55 percent respectively — during the first eight days of the holiday, which this year begins on Feb. 17 and is to last nine days.
The average hotel booking rate nationwide is 38.33 percent.
Photo courtesy of the Alishan Hotel
All three regions usually have higher booking rates during the holiday, with Chiayi also receiving tourists visiting Alishan Forest Railway and other areas, the agency said.
The average rates also exceeded the national average in New Taipei City, Taichung, and Nantou, Chiayi and Taitung counties.
Hotel booking rates in most cities and counties are higher from Feb. 17 to Feb. 19, agency data showed.
The Tourism Administration said it would release updated data two weeks before the holiday, as most Taiwanese prefer to book their trips close to the start of the break.
In other news, domestic travel spending by Taiwanese reached NT$515.8 billion (US$16.33 billion) in 2024, more than 30 percent higher than 2019, the agency said.
The growth momentum continued last year and is expected to persist this year, it said.
The agency estimated that 222.03 million trips were taken by domestic travelers in 2024, a 31.36 percent increase from 2019.
In the first three quarters of last year, 186 million domestic trips were recorded, a 12.57 percent increase from the same period in 2024, it said.
The data showed that domestic tourism is gradually becoming more balanced throughout the year, it said.
The growth in domestic tourism did not raise accommodation costs, with the average room price at hotels and bed-and-breakfasts (B&Bs) was NT$2,960 per night in 2024, NT$35 less than in 2023. The average room price last year fell further to NT$2,954.
The average room price at a B&B was NT$2,405 in 2024, down from NT$2,509 in 2023.
During the first six months of last year, a room at a B&B cost NT$2,442 on average, down from NT$2,481 during the same period in 2024.
The agency also responded to complaints about high room costs in Taiwan.
Accommodation costs vary by region, time of year and room size.
Hotels and B&Bs are often perceived as expensive during major holidays or at popular tourist destinations, but that view could change when looking at annual average prices or rates during weekdays and off-peak periods, the Tourism Administration said.
Instead of spending multiple days traveling domestically during major holidays or on long weekends, more Taiwanese prefer to take frequent short-distance trips on weekends or short holidays, it said.
That change has shifted domestic tourism from a few peak periods and major attractions every year to more varied locations throughout the year, it said.
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