Taiwanese shun domestic travel, seeking better value abroad amid tourism deficit

Taiwanese fitness instructor Shih Yu-hsin travels to Japan three times a year, never considering a domestic holiday. She finds local hotels and guesthouses offer poor value for money compared to Japan, where even basic accommodations are cleaner and better maintained for the price. This sentiment is widespread among Taiwanese, who cite high accommodation costs, repetitive attractions, and crowded conditions as reasons to vacation abroad.

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Local hotels and bed and breakfasts in Taiwan offer such ‘low CP value’.

Data reveals a structural deficit in Taiwan's tourism sector. While domestic trips increased by 11.52 percent in 2025, nearly 80 percent were day trips. Meanwhile, Taiwanese made 18.94 million trips abroad, more than double the 8.57 million foreign arrivals. This imbalance resulted in an estimated NT$700.98 billion (S$28 billion) tourism deficit.

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I can get much better value in Japan – even the most basic lodgings there are usually cleaner and better maintained for what I am paying.

To address this, Taiwan launched the Taiwan Tourism Institute, a think tank aiming to increase the island's tourism economic footprint to NT$1 trillion by 2030. The institute will research and recommend policies to enhance domestic tourism quality and traveler satisfaction, moving beyond simple visitor numbers. Winston Shen, the institute's chair, acknowledged public complaints about fluctuating accommodation rates, especially during events, and pledged to work on ensuring consumers feel their money is well spent.

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Many people say that accommodation rates fluctuate too greatly when there are concerts being held. Figuring out how to make consumers feel like their money is well spent is something we will work hard on.