Domestic travel trips, spending hit record highs in 2025: Agency

Taipei, Aug. 3 (CNA) Taiwanese people aged 12 and older took a record 247.61 million domestic trips in 2025, up 11.52 percent from the previous year, while spending on domestic travel reached a record NT$564.3 billion (US$17.38 billion), up 9.4 percent, according to survey results released Monday by the Tourism Administration.

On average, each person took 11.65 domestic trips during that year. The average trip lasted 1.32 days, with travelers spending NT$2,279 per trip, the survey showed.

About 79.1 percent of domestic trips were day trips, while 92 percent were taken independently rather than in groups.

Respondents cited transportation convenience and accessibility as the most important factors when choosing destinations.

The survey also found that 38.9 percent of Taiwanese aged 12 and over traveled overseas in 2025, up 4.3 percentage points from 2024. Japan remained the most popular destination, attracting 45.3 percent of outbound travelers, followed by China and South Korea.

The number of outbound trips rose 12.43 percent from 2024.

Spending on overseas travel exceeded NT$1 trillion for the first time, reaching NT$1.047 trillion. Travelers spent an average of NT$55,288 per trip, including airfare, while domestic spending before and after overseas trips averaged NT$2,657 per traveler, totaling NT$50.3 billion for the year.

Despite the increase in overseas travel, 68 percent of respondents said they did not reduce the number of domestic trips because of overseas travel, the survey showed.

The domestic travel survey was conducted through telephone interviews and has a sampling error of plus or minus 1.27 percentage points at a 95 percent confidence level.

In a separate survey also released Monday, the Tourism Administration said Taiwan welcomed 8.57 million international visitors in 2025, up 9.12 percent from a year earlier.

Those visitors spent an average of US$185.14 per day, generating US$11.033 billion in tourism revenue, excluding airfare, up 10.02 percent from 2024.

Accommodation accounted for the largest share of spending at 41.82 percent, followed by food at 21.17 percent and shopping at 18.32 percent.

Visitors from the United States recorded the highest daily spending at US$242.84, followed by visitors from South Korea, Europe and Japan. Hong Kong visitors spent the most on shopping, followed by travelers from China and South Korea, the survey showed.

International visitors stayed an average of 6.95 nights in Taiwan, while 42.25 percent had visited the country within the previous three years. Overall visitor satisfaction reached 99 percent, according to the survey.

Although leisure remained the primary purpose of inbound travel, visitors traveling for business or to attend international conferences and exhibitions spent more than other international visitors on average, the Tourism Administration said.

The survey also found that while night markets remained the most popular attractions, visits to historic sites increased compared with 2019. Southern Taiwan also overtook central Taiwan as the second-most visited region after northern Taiwan.

The inbound tourism survey used quota sampling of international visitors to Taiwan in 2025. It collected 6,660 valid responses and has a sampling error of less than 1.2 percentage points at a 95 percent confidence level.