Taiwan's hospitality industry sees decline in occupancy, nightly rates in first six months

TAIPEI, Aug. 29 (Xinhua) -- The occupancy rates for hotel and guesthouse rooms in Taiwan decreased by 2.9 and 3.84 percentage points, respectively, in the first half of 2024 year on year, according to the latest statistics released by an official booking website taiwanstay.net.tw.

The occupancy rates for hotels and guesthouses in the first half of the year were 47.3 percent and 22.69 percent, respectively, down from 50.2 percent and 26.53 percent in the same period last year, the website announced on Wednesday in a press release.

In particular, Hualien in the eastern part of the island saw a significant decline in occupancy rates, with only about 10 to 20 percent of rooms occupied, compared to 40 to 60 percent in the same period last year, due to the impact of a serious earthquake in April and low travel confidence.

Meanwhile, the average nightly rates for hotels and guesthouses in the first six months were 2,885 and 2,488 New Taiwan dollars (about 90 and 78 U.S. dollars), down 2.4 and 1.78 percent year on year, respectively. Among the 3,438 hotels surveyed, approximately 78 percent had room rates below the average.

According to the island's regulations, a legally-registered guesthouse normally has a maximum eight rooms with a total area of no more than 240 square meters.

During the summer vacation, many tourist spots in Taiwan did not experience the usual peak season boom. The beaches in Kenting of southern Taiwan, which saw monthly visitors exceed 20,000 before the COVID-19 pandemic, only had slightly over 10,000 visitors per month from January to June this year. Local hotels reported that summer occupancy rates were below 50 percent.

Additionally, the annual Taiwan International Balloon Festival, held in Taitung from July 6 to Aug. 19, attracted 660,000 visitors this summer, down nearly half from last year's 1.16 million.