Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that as the Lunar New Year fell in February this year, visitor arrivals in package tour totalled 851,000 in February 2014, up by 5% year-on-year. Visitors from Mainland China totalled 645,000, a year-on-year increase of 7%, with 312,000 coming from Guangdong Province; meanwhile those from Taiwan (59,000), the Republic of Korea (38,000) and Hong Kong (36,000) recorded decrease. In the first two months of 2014, visitor arrivals in package tour increased by 4% year-on-year to 1,634,000.

Outbound residents using services of travel agencies were 123,000 in February, down by 6% year-on-year; those travelling in package tour totalled 43,000 and the main destinations were Mainland China at 32,000 (74% of total), the Republic of Korea (6%), Taiwan (6%), and Hong Kong (5%). In the first two months of 2014, outbound residents using services of travel agencies totalled 239,000.

There were 99 hotels and guesthouses operating at the end of February 2014, providing 28,000 guest rooms, down by 1% year-on-year; 5-star hotels had 18,000 rooms, accounting for 66% of the total.

During the Lunar New Year period, the average occupancy rate of hotels and guesthouses surged by 15 percentage points year-on-year to 92%, with 5-star hotels leading at 93%. A total of 834,000 guests checked into hotels and guesthouses in February, up by 7% year-on-year, with 57% staying in 5-star hotels. The average length of stay of guests increased by 0.1 night year-on-year to 1.5 nights. In the first two months of 2014, total number of guests was 1,706,000 and the average occupancy rate was 86%.

In the first two months of 2014, visitor-guests took up 68% of the total number of overnight visitors, similar to that in the same period of 2013.