2008 Survey of Travel by R.O.C Citizens

Executive Summary

The objectives of this study are to understand, in 2008, citizens’ traveling activities, degree of satisfaction and amounts spent on different types of vacation expenses on each trip; and to learn the mutual effects of domestic tourism and outbound travels. It also provides estimates on domestic tourism expenditures and foreign exchange spent on oversea travels. The results of this study provide policy makers needed information on developing new tourist facilities, improving traveling environments, upgrading the quality of tourism and initiating new tourism policies. The population of this survey includes all R.O.C. citizens who were 12 years or older in 2008. The survey period covered from January1, 2008 through December 31, 2008.

This survey was designed primarily to collect domestic tourism data. However, outbound traveling data was also collected as a secondary objective. The survey interviews were conducted by telephone, using a computer-assisted telephone interviewing system (CATI). A stratified random sampling was used to select the sample. The total initial sample was divided into four panels; and a rotation scheme was instituted so that each sample person was interviewed once every quarter for four consecutive quarters. However, sample of each quarter composed of four panels that first panel was interviewed the first time; second panel was interviewed the second time; third panel was interviewed the third time; and the fourth panel was interviewed the fourth time. The numbers of completed domestic tourism interviews were as follows: first quarter 4,553 persons, second quarter 4,567 persons, third quarter 4,543 persons and fourth quarter 4,543 persons. The completed outbound interviews were fewer: first quarter 273 persons, second quarter 321 persons, third quarter 370 persons and fourth quarter 276 persons.

The survey results are summarized in the following in two parts: important indexes of domestic and outbound travels and statistical analysis.

 

　

 I、Important Indexes of Domestic and Outbound Travels

A.  R.O.C. Citizens’ Domestic Tourist Travel Index

 Table 1  R.O.C. Citizens’ Domestic Tourist Travel Index

                                                                                                                          Note: 1.The population of this survey includes all R.O.C. citizens who were 12 years or older.

                                                                                                                                    2. “No significant change” means there is no significant difference under significance level

                                                                                                                                    3. Proportion of people taking domestic tourist travel=the percentage of total population in 

                                                                                                                                        Taiwan who at least took one time domestic tourist travel during that year.

 

　

B.  R.O.C. Citizens’ Outbound Travel Index

Table 2  R.O.C. Citizens’ Outbound Travel Index

                                                                                   Note:1. The data source of Total number of trips taken by all citizens and the average number of nights per trip:  Monthly Statistics on Tourism.

                                                                                    2. “No significant change” means there is no significant difference under significance level.

                                                                                     3. Average number of outbound trips per person = total number of outbound trips /the average of 12 months total population in Taiwan .

                                                                                             4. Average expenditure per person trip is estimated based only on trips with 60 nights or fewer.

                                                                                             5. Proportion of people taking outbound travels= the percentage of total population in Taiwan  who at least took one time outbound trip during that year.

                                                                                              6. Exchange rate is the average of 12 months spot exchang rate N.T/$ of that year.

 

　

 

II、Statistical Analysis

A.  Domestic Travels

1.      93% citizens had domestic travels in 2008, higher than 91% of 2007: During the year of 2008, the domestic travel rate was: 1^st Quarter: 71.4%, 2^nd Quarter: 64.8%, 3^rd Quarter: 64.5%, 4^th Quarter: 64.0%. The first quarter’s domestic travel rate was the highest. The proportion of people who traveled was higher than that of 2007 in the first and third quarter, but was not significantly different from that of 2007 in second quarter and forth quarter. 92.5% of the citizens 12 years or older traveled at least once domestically, an increase of 2% from 2007.

Table 3  Proportions of People Having Domestic Travels

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                Unit: %

                                                                                                                             Note: Travel rate：travel at least once domestically during a period.

2.      The estimated total number of domestic tourist trips taken by citizens of 12 years or older reached 96.20 millions, a decrease of 12.7% from the previous year: The average number of trips per person during the year 2008 was 4.81, a decrease of 0.76 trips from 5.57in 2007. The estimated total number of domestic tourist trips taken by citizens of 12 years or older was 96,200,000 trips. And the total number of trips traveled by all citizens was estimated at 113,300,000 person-trips.

Table 4   Average number of domestic trips per person

                                                                            Unit: Frecrency

　

3.      “Wished to travel but did not have time” was the main reason for people not having domestic travel, “Wished to travel but could not afford” had an increase of 10% from that of 2007: During the year of 2008, 7% of people did not take any domestic tourist travel. And the leading reason for not traveling was “Wished to travel but did not have time” (49%); the second major reason was “Wished to travel but could not afford” (23%); the third major reasons were “Wished to travel but had poor health” (14%) and “Not interested in traveling” (12%). Compared with 2007, we found that “Wished to travel but could not afford” had an increase of 10% from that of 2007.

Table 5   Reasons for not traveling

                                                                                                                                          Unit: %

                                                                                                                        Note: “—” means no sample in the cell.

4.      Domestic tourist trips made on weekends increased: 63% of the domestic tourist trips were taken on weekends, an increase of 5% from that of 2007. 11% of the domestic trips were taken on national holidays, a decrease of 6% from that of 2007. As for the purposes of the domestic travels, 79% were for “sightseeing, recreation, vacation” an increase of 3% from that of 2007, followed by “visiting friends and relatives” (20%). “Religious travels” had a decrease of 2% from 2007.

Table 6   Day Used For Domestic Tourist Travel

                                                                   Unit: %

                                                                                     Note:1.“*” means National Holidays which were continuous holidays during that year，“—” means not continuous holidays.

                                                                                     2. Other national holidays included other national holidays and not continuous National holidays.

Table 7  Purposes of Domestic Tourist Travels

                                                         Unit: %

5.      69% of the domestic tourist trips were one-day trips: For the year 2008, about 66% of the trips were taken within the living region of the travelers (not significantly different from that of 2007); observing based on traveler’s residence region, we found that in all regions, most of the trips were conducted within the same region that they live in, especially in the south region (73%). As for duration of the trips, most of them (69%) were one-day trips, followed by 20% of two-day trips, 8% of three-day trips. Average duration of a trip was 1.51 days (not significantly different from that of 2007)

Table 8  2008 Proportion of Tourists Visited Each Region by Region of Residence

                                                                                            Unit: Row %

                                                                                                                          Note: 1.This item was multi-choice

                                                                                                                         2.The percentage of the trips were taken within the living region of the travelers (66%) = the total number of

                                                                                                                            the trips conducted within the same region that they live in /total person-trips in 2008.

Table 9  Distribution on Duration of Tourist Trips

                                                                                                                 Unit: %

6.      Most of over-night tourists stayed in hotels or friend’s or relative’s places: According to the survey, in domestic trips, 69% of them were same-day returns. 14% stayed in hotels, 11% in friend’s or relative’s places, and 5% in home stays. The percentages of other types of accommodation were very low. Compared with 2007, there was no significant difference from that of 2007.

Table 10  Distribution of Accommodation Choices

                                                                                    Unit: %

7.      Almost 90% of the tourist trips were completely planned by tourists’ themselves; most of them obtained travel information from friends, relatives, colleagues or classmates: Majority of the tourists planned their trips completely by themselves (87%), while other types of planning were each used by less than 7% of the tourists. As for travel information, 53% of tourists obtained it from friends, relatives, colleagues or classmates, 28% of them obtained it through Internet, 13% of them obtained it from electronic media. There were 4% of tourists had purchased traveling related products through internet; most of them were hotel reservations.

Table 11 Types of Travels

                                                                                                           Unit: %

                                                                                                                                               Note: “0.0”means the percentage was under 0.05.

Table 12  Sources of Travel Information

                                                                                                         Unit: %

                                                                                                                                 Note: 1. This item was multi-choice .Tourists who did not obtain travel information were excluded.

                                                                                                                                 2. Electronic Media includes television, broadcasting, and billboard, etc.

                                                                                                                                  3. Print Media includes traveling books, newspapers, and magazines, etc.

Table 13  Purchasing Traveling Related Products through Internet

                                                                                                                       Unit: %

                                                                                                                                Note: 1.” Did not answer”means tourists did not answer purchased train ticket was Taiwan Railway or Taiwan High speed rail.

                                                                                                                                2. The purchase percentage of the item =the number of person-trips that did purchase the items/total number of person-trips in 2008.

                                                                                                                                 3. “—” means no sample in the cell.

 

8.      The most important factor considered by the tourists when they chose visiting places was “beautiful natural scenery”, followed by“Visiting relatives or friends”and“Convenient transportation”. The “Natural scenery sightseeing activities” was the tourists’ most favorite activity: The most important factor considered by the tourists when they chose visiting places was “beautiful natural scenery”, followed by“visiting relatives or friends”and“convenient transportation”. As for tourists’ favorite activities, the percentage of the “Natural scenery sightseeing activities” was the highest. On the regional comparison in the favorite activities, we found that North region had higher percentage of tourists enjoying “Tasting good foods, tea or coffee” and “shopping” than other regions; “Religious activities” in the Central was higher than other regions; “Visiting cultural and historical sites” in the South was higher than other regions; “Natural scenery sightseeing activities” and “Hot spring, SPA” in the East were higher than other regions.

Table 14  The tourists’ considerations while choosing the travel place (degree of importance)

                                                                                                                             Unit: %

                                                                                                                                    Note: 1.Number inside parenthesis indicates the ranking in the importance of considerations when the travelers       choose the places to visit.

                                                                                                                                  2.The same ranking number means the degrees of importance of the items have no significant difference       under significance level

 

Table 15  The tourists’ favorite activities—by region

                                                                                  Unit: column%

                                                                                                                             Note:1. This item was multi-choice. The numerator is the number of answers and the denominator is the number of person trip.

                                                                                                                             2. The ‘other’ of other recreational activities includes barbecue, singing, etc.“Visit relatives and friends only” includes tomb sweeping.

                                                                                                                             3. “—” means no sample in the cell; “0.0”means the percentage was under 0.05.

 

9.      “Danshuei and Bali”,“Love River ,Cijin and Sizihwan  Resort”were the most popular places: North Region was visited by the largest number of tourists, followed by the South region. Danshuei and Bali”(5%), “Love River ,Cijin and Sizihwan  Resort”(5%) were the most popular places for tourists. As for National Parks, Kenting National Park was visited by the largest number of tourists, accounting for 4%. For thirteen National Scenic Areas, Tri-Mountain (4%) was the place with largest number of tourists.

Table 16  Region Visited

                                                                                  Unit: %

                                               Note: 1.This item was multi-choice.

                                                        2.North Region：Taipei City, Keelung City, Taipei County, Yilan County, Taoyuan County, Hsinchu County, Hsinchu City.

                                              Central Region：Miaoli County, Taichung County, Taichung City, Changhua County, Nantou County, Yunlin County.

                                               South Region：Chiayi County, Chiayi City, Tainan County, Tainan City, Kaohsiung County, Kaohsiung City, Pingtung County, Penghu County.

                                               East Region：Taidung County, Hualien County.

                                               Kim-Mar Region：Kinmen County, Lienchiang County.

Table 17  The most popular places for tourists in 2008

                                                                                       Unit: %

                                                                                                                                                                        Note: the percentage=the number of person-trips to a tourist place/ total number of person-trips in 2008.

　

　

      Table 18  2008 Proportion of Tourists Visiting National park and National Scenic Area

                                                                                                                                          Unit：%

National Park	Percentage	National Scenic Area	Percentage	National Scenic Area	Percentage
Kenting	3.92	Tri-Mountain	3.71	North Coast & Guanyinshan	1.66
Yanmingshan	2.25	Sun Moon Lake	3.01	Siraya	1.50
Taroko	1.52	East Coast	2.55	Maolin	1.09
Shei-Pa	0.61	East Rift Valley	2.29	Tapeng Bay	0.60
Kinmen	0.35	Northeast Coast	1.89	Penghu	0.51
Yushan	0.24	Southwest Coast	1.83	Matzu	0.05
		Alishan	1.71

       Note: The percentage=the number of person-trips to one place of the National Park or the National Scenic Area / total number of person-trips in 2008.

10.  Private automobile was the main transportation for most tourists, but the percentage was decreasing the percentage of tourists who used public transportation had increased : Based on this survey, private automobile was the main transportation for most tourists, followed by tour bus；and train (including Taiwan railway and Taiwan high speed rail). Particularly noticeable was that traveled by private automobile decreased, and by public transportation( tour bus、train、Bus and Mass Rapid Transit) increased.

Table 19  Main Transportation in 2008

                                                                                                                                                           Unit：%

                                                                                                                              Note: 1.This item was multi-choice.

                                                                                                                                        2. Number inside parenthesis indicates the first 5 places ranking. The same ranking number means the percentages have no significant difference.

                                                                                                                                        3. “—” means no sample in the cell.

                                                                                                                                        4. Adding cable car in 2008.

 

11.  97% of all tourists were satisfied with the overall impressions of the places visited: 97% of tourists were satisfied with the places they visited, which had an increased of 1% from that of 2007. Tourists were most satisfied with “natural scenery and natural resources protection” (93%), “attendants services” (93%) and “travel safety” (93%). However, tourists were most dissatisfied with “public transportation” (23%), followed by ”parking facilites”(19%), “Entrance ticket prices” (19%), “lavatories”(19%) and “smooth traffic”(17%).

Table 20  Tourists Degree of Satisfaction with Places Visited

                                                                                                                                           Unit: %

                                                                                                                               Note：1. “Satisfied” includes, percent of extremely satisfied and satisfied; “Dissatisfied” includes percent of extremely dissatisfied and dissatisfied.

                                                                                                                               2.“—” means no this item in the year.

 

 

12.  The R.O.C. citizens’ total domestic tourist traveling expenditure in 2008 was NT$ 184.2 billions, a decreased of 16% from that of 2007: Based on this survey, the average expense per trip for each person was NT$1,915 for domestic travel in 2008, a decrease of 3.7% from that of 2007.The types of expenditures, ranked in the order of their amount, were as follows: transportation, food and beverage, shopping, lodging, entertainment and other expenses. The total domestic tourist travel expenses by citizens of 12years or older in 2008 were estimated at NT$184.2 billions, a decrease of 16% from that of 2007.

  Table 21  Average Expenses of Domestic Tourist Travel Per Person-Trip

                                                                                                                                                                  Unit: NT$

                                                                                                                                    Note: Other expenses include gifts, donations and tips.

Table 22  Average Expenses of Domestic Tourist Travel Per Person-Trip in 2008

                                            By With/Without Lodging

                                                                                                                                      Unit: NT$

Item	Total	Over-night Traveler		Not over-night Same-day return
		With lodging expenses	Without lodging expenses
Total	1,915	4,727	2,670	995
Transportation	511	1,003	934	300
Lodging	330	1,702	0	0
Food and Beverage	454	985	613	278
Entertainment	104	233	117	65
Shopping	413	745	630	282
Other Expenses	103	59	376	70

               Note: Most of “over-night but without lodging expenses” were lodging in relatives or friends houses(94%); some stayed in free visitor centers or free camping grounds(6%).

　

B.  Comparisons of Domestic Travel and Outbound Travel

1. Domestic travel rate for outbound travelers was 99%: During 2008, 93 % of all citizens took at least one domestic tourist trip; while 20% had at least one outbound travel. The average number of domestic trip per person was 4.81; while the average number of outbound travel per person was 0.37. Furthermore, we found that outbound travelers had a higher proportion of domestic travels than non-outbound travelers, 99% vs. 91%.

Table 23  Comparison of Domestic Travel vs. Outbound Travel in 2008

Table 24  Proportions of Domestic Tourist Travels in 2008
        Outbound Travelers vs. Non-outbound Travelers

                                                                                                                                Unit: %

2. 77% of outbound tourists did not decrease the number of domestic trips due to outbound travels: During 2008, 23% of outbound tourists decreased the number of domestic trips due to oversea travel; while 77% expressed that their outbound travels had no effect on their domestic trip frequencies. From the cross tabulation between outbound and domestic travels, we found that most citizens had domestic trips but no outbound travel (73%), followed by 20% who had both domestic and outbound trips, and less than 1% who had outbound travel but no domestic trip.

Table 25  Outbound Travel Effect on Domestic Trips

Table 26  Domestic Travelers vs. Outbound Travelers in 2008

                                                                                                                     Unit: %

3. Outbound travelers’ male proportion, age and monthly income were on the average higher than domestic tourist travelers: Comparisons between months, we found that more tourists took domestic trips in February than in any other month, accounting for 14%; while more outbound trips were taken in July (10%). Gender-wise, domestic trips were taken by males and females evenly; while outbound trips taken by male out numbered females (57% to 43%); Age-wise, average age of domestic travelers was 38 years old, while outbound traveler was 42 years old on average. Based on monthly income, average monthly income of the domestic travelers (NT$24,462) was less than that of the outbound travelers (NT$32,108). As for occupation, student, housekeepers and services or sales workers were larger groups among domestic trips, while outbound travelers had more technician, services or sales workers, managers and supervisors, clerks, retirees, housekeepers or students.

Table 27  Characteristics Comparison between Domestic Tourists and Outbound Travelers in 2008

Note: These data of outbound tourist’s traveling month, sex, and age were government statistical data.

4. Sightseeing, Recreation or Vacation was the main purpose for both domestic tourist trips and outbound travel trips: Most tourists took domestic travel for sightseeing, recreation or vacation purpose (79%), followed by visiting friends or relatives (20%). Most outbound travelers went overseas also for sightseeing, recreation or vacation purpose (60%), followed by business (26%).

Table 28  Comparison of the Trip Purposes in 2008

Domestic vs. Outbound

                                                                                                                                                 Note：“—” means no sample in the cell.

5. Most tourists, domestic or outbound, took short distance trips: In 2008, 66% of the domestic tourist travels were within tourist’s own living region tours. For outbound travels, 87% of the trips were in nearby Asian countries; and more travelers visited Mainland China (36%) than any other place, followed by Japan (21%) and Hong Kong (9%).

Table 29  Destinations of outbound Travels for year 2008

                                                                                                                                              Note: 1. Traveling regions were multi-choice.

                                                                                                                                     2. The percentage in ( ) indicates change from 2007.

                                                                                                                                     3. ”─”means no sample in the cell; “0.0”means the percentage was under 0.05.

6. North Region was the most important tourist source for both domestic and outbound tourist market: Analysis based on region of residence, we found that more domestic trips (45%) were taken by the residents of the North Region than any other region, followed by the South Region (28%) and Central Region(25%). And 54% of all outbound trips were taken by the residents of the North Region. The South Region (22%) and Central Region (20%) were in distant second. Therefore, North Region was the most important tourist source for both domestic and outbound tourist market.

Table 30  Distribution of Domestic and Outbound Trips in 2008
By Region of Residence

7. Most domestic and outbound travelers took individual tours: More tourists took domestic or outbound trips (87% for domestic and 63% for outbound) by themselves than joining group tours. Only 4% of all domestic tourist trips were arranged by travel agencies, while 91% of outbound tours were arranged through travel agencies.

Table 31  Comparison of Types of Domestic and Outbound Travels in 2008

    Unit: %

8. In 2008, the R.O.C. citizens’ total domestic tourist traveling expenditure was NT$ 184.2 billions, a 16.0% decrease from that of 2007; total expenditure for outbound travels was NT$ 413.4 billions, a 4.4% decrease from that of 2007: Average spending per domestic person-trip (stayed out one night or more and paied accommodation expenses) was NT$4,727. The R.O.C. citizens’ total domestic tourist traveling expenditures was NT$ 184.2 billions, a decrease of 16.0% from that of 2007. The total expenditures of all outbound tourist travels was NT$413.4 billions in 2008. In addition, before and after the trip, there was a total spending of NT$3,500 in Taiwan for each person-trip. (It included the expenses of buying trip necessities and gifts, transportation expenses between home and airport, printing camera films, and repairing suitcases and other traveling equipments). We estimated that the total expenditures related to the trip spent by outbound tourists before going abroad and returning to Taiwan was NT$29.6 billions (US$0.939 billions).

Table 32  Expenditure of Domestic and Outbound Travels in 2008

                                                                                                                                   Note: Number inside parenthesis indicates percent change from 2007 to 2008.

9. 32%~48% of people had plans for domestic travels for the next season: For the next season domestic travel planning, the highest proportion was planning for travels for the 1^st Quarter of 2008. (Lunar New Year holidays)

Table 34  Next Season Travel Plans

                                                                                                                                  Unit:%