Tourism in Taiwan is one of the major industries and contributor to the economy of Taiwan. In 2022, Taiwan received under 900,000 international visitors, down from 11.8 million in 2019. [1] Tourism affairs are managed by the Tourism Bureau of the Ministry of Transportation and Communications of Taiwan.
There are numerous attractions in Taiwan. Major national icons or tourist attractions include:
| City / Area | Attraction | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Taipei | National Palace Museum | One of the largest museums in the world holding Chinese artifacts with over 696,000 pieces. The museum was built after the collection was evacuated from mainland China in 1949 to prevent Communist China from controlling and ultimately destroying any artifacts as part of the Cultural Revolution. |
| Taipei | Presidential Office Building, Taipei | The building housing the Office of the President of the Republic of China (Taiwan). It originally housed the Office of the Governor-General of Taiwan when Taiwan was part of the Empire of Japan from 1895 to 1945. |
| Taipei | Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall | A Memorial Hall built to honor the late President and Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek. |
| Taipei | Taipei 101 | Formerly the tallest building in the world from 2004 to 2010. Consisting of 101 floors it is primarily a commercial office building with restaurants, clubs, commercial stores and tourist observatories. |
| Taipei | Shilin Night Market | A night market located in the Shilin District of Taipei, and is often considered to be the largest and most famous night market in the city. |
| Taipei | Mengjia Longshan Temple | One of the oldest temples in Taipei. |
| Hualien | Taroko National Park | One of Taiwan's national parks, with the landmark being Taroko Gorge. |
| Tainan | Fort Zeelandia and Fort Provintia | The oldest city and once an old capital of Taiwan, the city is dotted with ancient temples, shrines and fortress. Tainan is also famous for its traditional Taiwanese cuisine and night markets. |
| Taichung/ Nantou | Sun Moon Lake | A popular scenic spot. The lake is the largest body of water in Taiwan, situated in Yuchi, Nantou, the area around the Sun Moon Lake is home to the Taiwanese indigenous Thao tribe. |
| Kenting | Spring Scream | An annual outdoor music festival held in early April, featuring local and international folk, punk, and rock musicians and artists. |
| Chiayi | Alishan National Scenic Area | A mountainous natural preserve that includes vibrant wilderness, forests, four villages, waterfalls, high altitude tea plantations, and the famous Alishan Forest Railway, and several hiking trails. It is also a famous flower spotting, particularly cherry blossom, destination during spring time. |
| Chiayi | Hinoki Village | A village that was originally the dormitories of the Chiayi Forest division of Forestry Bureau of the Taiwan Governor General Office during the Japanese rule of Taiwan. |
| Tainan | Chihkan Tower | A tower that was built 1653 during the Dutch colonization of Taiwan. |
The top 12 nationalities of international visitors for tourism purpose (pleasure) are:
| Rank | Country / Territory | 2016 |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |  China | 2,845,547 |
| 2 |  Hong Kong | 1,397,233 |
| 3 |  Japan | 1,379,233 |
| 4 |  South Korea | 693,224 |
| 5 |  Malaysia | 339,710 |
| 6 |  Singapore | 292,240 |
| 7 |  United States | 166,044 |
| 8 |  Thailand | 110,116 |
| 9 |  Canada | 54,987 |
| 10 |  Philippines | 48,198 |
| 11 |  Vietnam | 36,839 |
| 12 |  Indonesia | 32,868 |
| Source: Tourism Bureau, Taiwan [2] [3] [4] [5] | ||
The top international visitors in Taiwan for all purposes are:
| Country / Territory | 10/2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Japan | 1,021,772 | 928,235 | 87,616 | 10,056 | 269,659 | 2,167,952 | 1,969,151 | 1,898,854 | 1,895,702 |
| Hong Kong | 972,006 | 1,199,572 | 32,621 | 10,760 | 177,654 | 1,758,006 | 1,653,654 | 1,692,063 | 1,614,803 |
| South Korea | 780,147 | 744,727 | 51,748 | 3,300 | 178,911 | 1,242,598 | 1,019,441 | 1,054,708 | 884,397 |
| United States | 508,399 | 529,532 | 90,614 | 11,981 | 82,872 | 605,054 | 580,072 | 561,365 | 523,888 |
| Philippines | 371,593 | 350,487 | 64,038 | 9,183 | 77,065 | 509,519 | 419,105 | 290,784 | 172,475 |
| Malaysia | 346,217 | 437,491 | 59,035 | 6,205 | 72,705 | 537,692 | 526,129 | 528,010 | 474,420 |
| China | 328,676 | 226,269 | 24,378 | 13,267 | 111,050 | 2,714,065 | 2,695,615 | 2,732,549 | 3,511,734 |
| Singapore | 323,853 | 463,893 | 69,507 | 2,417 | 49,946 | 460,635 | 427,222 | 425,577 | 407,267 |
| Thailand | 322,528 | 394,688 | 74,434 | 7,570 | 63,553 | 413,926 | 320,008 | 292,534 | 195,640 |
| Vietnam | 317,610 | 382,529 | 134,818 | 24,935 | 110,882 | 405,396 | 490,774 | 383,329 | 196,636 |
| Indonesia | 187,021 | 201,980 | 78,162 | 13,819 | 55,717 | 229,960 | 210,985 | 189,631 | 188,720 |
| Canada | 90,284 | 92,404 | 13,244 | 1,178 | 18,857 | 136,651 | 128,456 | 117,687 | 106,197 |
 Australia | 86,756 | 87,288 | 11,509 | 568 | 18,906 | 111,788 | 102,541 | 90,892 | 82,361 |
 Germany | 61,604 | 60,704 | 10,811 | 1,937 | 9,361 | 72,708 | 65,330 | 65,983 | 59,798 |
 United Kingdom | 56,237 | 60,779 | 13,723 | 2,964 | 11,879 | 76,904 | 71,030 | 64,858 | 59,867 |
 France | 41,052 | 42,852 | 8,349 | 1,567 | 8,975 | 57,393 | 52,687 | 46,822 | 42,380 |
 India | 31,766 | 31,584 | 9,390 | 1,930 | 6,606 | 40,353 | 38,385 | 34,962 | 33,550 |
 Netherlands | 19,913 | 21,571 | 6,190 | 2,070 | 5,311 | 27,640 | 25,835 | 25,492 | 23,254 |
 Italy | 13,547 | 14,330 | 3,011 | 539 | 2,267 | 20,115 | 19,577 | 18,596 | 17,102 |
 New Zealand | 13,304 | 15,040 | 2,792 | 159 | 3,093 | 19,831 | 16,362 | 14,639 | 13,676 |
 Spain | 10,263 | 9,836 | 1,962 | 423 | 2,022 | 14,298 | 13,006 | 11,367 | 10,686 |
 Switzerland | 10,021 | 9,870 | 1,602 | 216 | 1,491 | 12,011 | 11,239 | 11,253 | 10,225 |
 Austria | 8,029 | 8,612 | 1,470 | 248 | 1,622 | 9,160 | 9,261 | 7,877 | 6,867 |
 Belgium | 6,412 | 6,762 | 1,879 | 681 | 1,602 | 8,980 | 7,845 | 7,666 | 6,627 |
 Russia | 5,710 | 5,592 | 1,786 | 724 | 2,939 | 17,621 | 10,394 | 9,226 | 7,974 |
 Sweden | 5,549 | 6,245 | 1,429 | 279 | 1,499 | 9,522 | 9,206 | 9,106 | 8,744 |
 South Africa | 4,079 | 4,408 | 1,625 | 355 | 1,258 | 5,872 | 5,596 | 5,757 | 5,077 |
 Mexico | 3,699 | 3,436 | 713 | 181 | 600 | 4,033 | 4,334 | 4,347 | 3,138 |
 Brazil | 3,412 | 3,243 | 723 | 171 | 823 | 5,417 | 5,042 | 4,794 | 4,171 |
 Ireland | 3,069 | 3,546 | 987 | 258 | 805 | 4,218 | 3,748 | 3,385 | 2,942 |
 Greece | 1,380 | 1,428 | 260 | 71 | 280 | 2,050 | 1,755 | 1,875 | 1,572 |
 Argentina | 903 | 842 | 195 | 52 | 272 | 1,284 | 1,459 | 1,693 | 1,281 |
| Grand Total | 6,206,267 | 6,486,951 | 895,962 | 140,479 | 1,377,861 | 11,864,105 | 11,066,707 | 10,739,601 | 10,690,279 |
| Source: Tourism Bureau, Taiwan [3] [4] [5] | |||||||||
In 2022, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, Taiwan received fewer than 900,000 international visitors. [1] To encourage more tourists, selected participants from Canada, the United States, Japan, Slovakia, France, the Netherlands, South Korea, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, India, and Israel were invited in 2023 to promote Taiwan on their social media pages. [6] The Taiwan Tourism Bureau also planned to offer monetary "tourist cards" to visitors from certain countries, offering discounts on travel and accommodation. [1]
Tourism in Taiwan is limited to business, pleasure, visiting relatives, conferences, study, exhibitions, medical treatment and others. [7]
There has been a surge in tourism numbers noticeably around election time in Taiwan, especially tourists from China. [8] However, tourists from China have declined significantly since President Tsai Ing-Wen took office in 2016. [9] Tsai is a member of the Democratic Progressive Party, which the Chinese Communist Party opposes. [9] Therefore, the Chinese government has reduced the number of travel visas issued to its citizens to visit Taiwan.[ example needed ]
In 2018 TreeHugger ranked Taiwan the #1 agritourism destination in the world. [10]
In 2015, 87% of Taiwanese had domestic travel for their tourism activities, in which the Kenting National Park became their most favorite destination. They spent an average of NT$9,323 per capita for each vacation, which was mainly for accommodation expenditure. [11]
The 2013 annual income for Taiwan from tourism-related industries topped at NT$366.8 billion (US$12.3 billion), an increase of 4.7% from the previous year. The average daily spending of each tourist in 2013 was US$224.07, a decrease of 4.37% from the previous year. [12]
In 2015, total revenue from tourism amounted US$14.39 billion, with an average daily spending by each visitor of US$208. [13]
In 2015, the average length of stay for each tourist visiting Taiwan was 6.63 nights. [13]
Taiwan has yet to nominate possible inscriptions in any UNESCO networks, such as UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage Lists, World Heritage List, World Network of Biosphere Reserves, Creative Cities Network, and Global Geoparks Network, due to China's rejection of the country's entrance to UNESCO. [14] However, in order make use of the conservation concepts achieved by the UNESCO networks, the Bureau of Cultural Heritage under the Ministry of Culture began in 2002 to compile a list of potential world heritage sites in Taiwan with currently 18 entries. [15]
Tourists mainly arrive by air and Taoyuan International Airport serves as the most popular airport bringing international tourists into Taiwan as it is the largest airport in Taiwan and important regional hub. Other major airports in Taiwan which facilitate international visitors include Kaohsiung International Airport servicing southern Taiwan, Taichung Airport servicing central Taiwan and Taipei Songshan Airport servicing central Taipei.
Tourists are able to travel around the island by using a wide variety of transportation modes. The most popular ways are Taiwan High Speed Rail, conventional trains on Taiwan Railways, and the metropolitan cities' metro systems such as the Taipei Metro, Taoyuan Metro, and Kaohsiung MRT as a result of multiple transport hubs which allow travellers to easily transfer between the different systems. A tourist bus called "Taiwan Tourist Shuttle" [16] and taxis are also popular.
Kaohsiung, officially Kaohsiung City, is a special municipality located in southern Taiwan. It ranges from the coastal urban center to the rural Yushan Range with an area of 2,952 km2 (1,140 sq mi). Kaohsiung City has a population of approximately 2.73 million people as of October 2023 and is Taiwan's third most populous city and largest city in southern Taiwan.
China Airlines is the state-owned flag carrier of Taiwan. It is one of Taiwan's two major airlines, along with EVA Air. It is headquartered in Taoyuan International Airport and operates over 1,400 flights weekly – including 91 pure cargo flights – to 102 cities across Asia, Europe, North America, and Oceania. Carrying nearly 20 million passengers and 5700 tons of cargo in 2017, the carrier was the 33rd largest airline in the world in terms of revenue passenger kilometers (RPK) and 10th largest in terms of freight revenue ton kilometers (FRTK).
The Three Links or Three Linkages was a 1979 proposal from the National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China (PRC) to open up postal, transportation, and trade links between mainland China and Taiwan, with the goal of unifying Mainland China and Taiwan.
Highways in Taiwan are classified into five types:
Taipei Main Station is a major metro and railway station in the capital Taipei, Taiwan. It is served by Taipei Metro, the Taiwan High Speed Rail, and Taiwan Railway. It is also connected through underground passageways to the terminal station of Taoyuan Airport MRT and the Taipei Bus Station. It is the busiest station in Taiwan.
Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT, commonly known as the Airport MRT, is a rapid transit line of the Taoyuan Metro that connects the municipalities of the capital Taipei, Taoyuan and New Taipei with Taoyuan International Airport. The 51.33 km (31.89 mi) line, from Taipei Main Station to Laojie River, has 22 stations and began commercial service on 2 March 2017.
National Freeway 3, also known as Formosa Freeway, is a freeway in Taiwan. It is the second north–south freeway in Taiwan, beginning in Keelung City at Jijin Interchange on the provincial highway 2 and ending in Linbian, Pingtung on the provincial highway 17. It is the longest freeway in Taiwan with a total length of 431.5 km (268.1 mi). The freeway is also the only one in Taiwan to have a spur route, Freeway 3A.
Islam is a minor religion in Taiwan and it represents about 0.25% of the population. There are around 60,000 Muslims in Taiwan, in which about 90% belong to the Hui ethnic group. There are also more than 250,000 foreign Muslims working in Taiwan from Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei, Sri Lanka, Thailand and the Philippines, as well as other nationalities from more than 30 countries. As of 2018, there are eleven mosques in Taiwan, with the most notable being the Taipei Grand Mosque, the oldest and largest one.
Visitors to the Republic of China (Taiwan) must obtain a visa or authorization in advance, unless they come from one of the visa exempt countries or countries whose nationals are eligible for visa on arrival. All visitors must hold a passport valid for 6 months.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Taiwan:
The Ministry of Transportation and Communications governs transportation in Taiwan.
The Ministry of Transportation and Communications is a cabinet-level governmental body of the Republic of China (R.O.C.) in charge of all policy and regulation of transportation and communications networks and administration of all transportation and communications operations and enterprises in Taiwan.
The Taoyuan Metro is a rapid transit system serving Taoyuan City, as well as parts of New Taipei City and Taipei City, in Taiwan. The most recently proposed network includes 11 lines and extensions, of which 2 are now under construction. The Taoyuan Airport MRT is the only line currently in operation. The system opened with the opening of the first line in the system, Taoyuan Airport MRT, for trial passenger service on 2 February 2017 and revenue passenger service on 2 March 2017.
The Tourism Administration, MOTC is the government agency under the Ministry of Transportation and Communications of Taiwan responsible for the administration of domestic and international tourism policy making, execution and development in Taiwan.
Yeh Kuang-shih is a Taiwanese politician and management scientist. He was the Minister of the Ministry of Transportation and Communications from 18 February 2013 until 9 January 2015, and one of the three deputy mayors of Kaohsiung within the municipal administration of Han Kuo-yu from 25 December 2018 to 12 June 2020.
Hsu Chun-yat or Jack Hsu is a Taiwanese politician. He was the Minister of the Public Construction Commission from July 2014 until May 2016.
iPASS is a contactless smart card operated by the iPASS Corporation. Starting from February 13, 2017, both EasyCard and iPASS are accepted for virtually all public transport in Taiwan, including rapid transit, buses, and Taiwan Railway services. It also serves as an electronic wallet.
Events from the year 2014 in Taiwan, Republic of China. This year is numbered Minguo 103 according to the official Republic of China calendar.
The Magong Harbor is a harbor in Magong City, Penghu, Taiwan.
