Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that visitor arrivals posted a new record for a single month, reaching 3,086,271 in the August Summer Holiday, up by 7% year-on-year. Same-day visitors accounted for 54% of the total, at 1,666,809.
Analysed by place of residence, visitors from Mainland China increased by 13% year-on-year to 2,131,498, coming primarily from Guangdong Province (960,814), Fujian Province (95,450) and Hunan Province (86,487); Mainland visitors travelling under the Individual Visit Scheme rose by 19%, at 1,063,668. Visitors from the Republic of Korea (58,115) and Japan (27,819) increased by 20% and 2% respectively year-on-year, while those from Hong Kong (635,354) and Taiwan (88,253) decreased by 2% and 11%. Long-haul visitors from the United States (13,115) and the United Kingdom (5,677) registered year-on-year increase, while those from Australia (6,621) and Canada (5,128) saw decrease.
The average length of stay of visitors remained unchanged from a year earlier, at 1.0 day in August 2014; overnight and same-day visitors stayed an average of 1.9 days and 0.2 day respectively.
In the first eight months of 2014, visitor arrivals totalled 21,123,512, up by 8% year-on-year, with same-day visitors sharing 54% of the total. Visitors from Mainland China (+14%) and the Republic of Korea (+19%) increased year-on-year, but those from Hong Kong and Taiwan decreased. Moreover, long-haul visitors from the United States, Australia and the United Kingdom recorded year-on-year increase; however, those from Canada registered decrease.