Taipei, May 2 (CNA) Taiwanese are increasingly embracing the Internet for online travel bookings and purchases, evident in a 19.5 percent growth on a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) in online travel sales between 2011 and 2016, according to a research report released Tuesday by Criteo, a global performance marketing technology company.
Taiwanese are enthusiastic travelers. In 2016, Taiwanese people took 15.9 million outbound trips and 50.1 million domestic trips, and expenditure on leisure and recreation is expected to grow 4.5 percent CAGR between 2017 and 2020, the research shows.
Online travel sales in Taiwan reached NT$216 billion (US$7.20 billion) in 2016, while the growth of mobile travel sales has outpaced the growth of online travel sales and will see a double-digit growth of 17.8 percent CAGR from 2017-2020, according to the report.
The research also found that among Taiwanese shoppers across all age groups, smartphones are the most preferred device for online browsing of travel products and services at 37 percent, followed by laptops at 33 percent and desktops at 27 percent.
Taiwanese travelers are tech-savvy and can browse seamlessly across multiple devices to find the best deal before making their purchase. Therefore, travel websites and online travel agents need to focus on providing a mobile experience that is user-friendly, easy to navigate, has add-on features and secure payment methods to drive transactions, said Alban Villani, general manager of Criteo Southeast Asia, Hong Kong and Taiwan.
(By Pan Chi-i and Evelyn Kao)ENDITEM/J
