Taiwan meets annual target with arrival of 6 millionth overseas visitor

Taoyuan, Dec. 15 (CNA) Taiwan met its target of 6 million overseas visitors in 2023 with the arrival of a Singaporean family at Taoyuan International Airport on Friday, according to the Tourism Administration.

Vice Premier Cheng Wen-tsan (鄭文燦) and Transportation Minister Wang Kwo-tsai (王國材) were on hand to welcome the family at the airport, and had wished them a pleasant stay in Taiwan.

At a ceremony following the family's arrival, Wang said Taiwan had also met its annual targets for domestic tourism.

According to Wang, Hong Kong and Macau were the largest source of overseas arrivals this year, with around 1.14 million people from the two territories visiting Taiwan in 2023.

Second was Japan with 850,00, ahead of Korea in third with 690,000, Wang said.

With international travel heating up, Wang said the government hoped that overseas arrivals could exceed pre-pandemic levels and breach the 12 million mark next year.

According to the Tourism Administration, 11.86 million overseas visitors arrived in Taiwan in 2019, the last full year of unrestricted travel before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Meanwhile, Cheng told reporters on Friday that a ban on group tours from Taiwan to China was likely to stay in place until after the Lunar New Year.

Although the government announced its intention to end the three-year-old restrictions in October, Cheng said the current plan was to wait until March 2024 before lifting the ban.