The Taiwan Tourism Bureau of the Republic of China’s Ministry of Transportation announced on the 3rd that in 2025, the number of tourists visiting Taiwan exceeded 8.57 million, with a total tourism expenditure of 11.033 billion US dollars, an increase of 10.02% compared to 2024, with American tourists spending the highest at $242.84 per person per day.
The Tourism Bureau of the Republic of China’s Ministry of Transportation released a press release on the “Visitor Consumption and Trends Survey in Taiwan.” In 2025, there were a total of 8,574,547 visitors to Taiwan, an increase of 9.12% compared to 2024. The total tourism expenditure in Taiwan (excluding international airfare) reached 11.033 billion US dollars, a 10.02% increase from 2024. The growth rate of consumption level exceeded the increase in tourist numbers by 0.9 percentage points. The average daily expenditure per person was $185.14, a 1.26% increase from 2024, with an average stay of 6.95 nights, similar to 2024.
The survey indicated that as the number of visitors to Taiwan continued to rise, the value and market benefits of tourism also increased simultaneously. The structure of visitors continued to diversify, indicating that Taiwan’s tourism is gradually moving towards a new phase that emphasizes quality, benefits, and market value in addition to sheer number of visitors.
The Tourism Bureau stated that the survey revealed five major trends, including “advance travel decision-making,” “deepening of independent travel,” “growth in experiential consumption,” “continuing deepening of tourism content,” and “diverse markets jointly supporting tourism growth.” This reflects the ongoing transformation in the travel patterns, consumption modes, and market structures of international tourists, indicating that Taiwan’s tourism competitiveness has gradually shifted from merely attracting numbers to extending to cultural characteristics, lifestyle experiences, service quality, and market viability.
The survey found that in 2025, international tourists began planning their trips to Taiwan an average of 46.74 days in advance, a 5.69-day increase from 2024. The proportion of pure independent travelers reached 76.40%, becoming the main travel mode. The most important sources of information influencing visitors’ decisions to come to Taiwan were personal travel accounts at 67.58% and traveler reviews at 59.31%, indicating that real travel experience sharing and word-of-mouth have become crucial in the international travel market competition, representing that international tourism competition has shifted from during the trip to the pre-trip decision-making stage for travelers.
Different travel purposes reveal different tourism values, with vacation, leisure, and recreation remaining essential for tourists visiting Taiwan. International conference and exhibition tourists spent an average of $274.51 per person per day, business tourists spent $235.38 per day, both higher than the overall average of $185.14, showcasing high added value.
It is noteworthy that the average daily entertainment expenditure of international conference and exhibition tourists reached $13.59, a 42% increase from $9.57 in 2024, indicating that in addition to participating in conferences and exhibitions, these tourists are gradually investing in more cultural, leisure, and local experiences, driving overall tourism benefits.
In 2025, Taiwanese visitors spent an average of $185.14 per person per day, with lodging expenses inside hotels at $77.43, dining outside hotels at $39.19, and shopping at $33.92 as the main expenditure items. Compared to 2024, entertainment expenses grew by 7.80%, the highest among all expenditure categories.
Compared to 2019, the average daily entertainment expenditure per person increased by 65%, while shopping expenses decreased by 34.44%, indicating a trend of a rise in experiential travel over shopping among international tourists, placing more emphasis on culture, cuisine, natural landscapes, and local life experiences.
Visiting night markets remained the top choice for tourists at 86.88% among various types of attractions, with the top three most remarkable experiences being delicious food at 87.81%, strolling through night markets at 77.63%, and enjoying natural landscapes at 63.26%. Compared to 2019, the proportion of visitors to historical sites increased to 64.58%, while outdoor activities such as hiking and trekking also increased to 19.04%.
Southern Taiwan accounted for 23.96% of travel in 2025, surpassing the central region at 21.77%, becoming the second-largest tourist region. This indicates that the travel itineraries of international tourists in Taiwan are gradually extending from iconic attractions to cultural, natural, ecological, and local experiential features.
In 2025, Japan was the largest single source market, accounting for 17.30%. From a regional perspective, the seven main countries in the New Southbound Policy accounted for 30.07% of visitors to Taiwan, with a total annual tourism expenditure of 3.725 billion US dollars, representing 33.76% of the overall tourism expenditure, leading in various regions.
The US market exhibited higher consumption and longer stays. Although American visitors accounted for only 8.34% of the total, their total annual tourism expenditure reached 1.704 billion US dollars, higher than Japan’s 1.375 billion US dollars. Their average daily spending per person was $242.84 with an average stay of 9.81 nights, both higher than the overall averages of $185.14 and 6.95 nights, respectively.
Moreover, the number of tourists from the Philippines increased by 123.11%, India by 114.33%, Australia and New Zealand by 109.05%, Vietnam by 105.11%, Europe by 104.33%, and Indonesia by 102.26%, all surpassing pre-epidemic levels in 2019. This indicates that Taiwan’s active cultivation of diverse international markets in recent years is gradually showing results, leading to more balanced, diversified, and resilient international visitor structures.
Overall, the satisfaction rate of tourists visiting Taiwan in 2025 averaged 4.62 out of 5, with 99.36% expressing satisfaction or high satisfaction, and 99.76% stating they would be willing to visit Taiwan again in the future. The friendliness of locals received a rating of 4.72, social security 4.70, convenient transportation 4.69, safe recreational environments 4.66, and secure accommodation facilities 4.63, all highly praised by international tourists, indicating that Taiwan’s appeal to visitors lies not only in its attractions but also in its friendly hospitality, safe and convenient travel environment, and memorable travel experiences worth revisiting.
The Tourism Bureau emphasized that the findings from the 2025 visitor survey not only demonstrate continuous growth in visitor numbers and tourism value but also reflect changes in the travel behavior of international tourists. Tourists are beginning to plan their trips earlier, value authentic reviews more, and are increasingly willing to invest time and budget in cultural, culinary, natural, and local life experiences.
From extending travel experiences to local areas to the joint support of tourism development by multiple visitor markets, it is evident that Taiwan’s tourism is gradually shifting from “attracting visitors to Taiwan” to “making visitors willing to return to Taiwan,” accumulating the warmth, lifestyle, and cultural charm unique to Taiwan.
In the future, the Tourism Bureau will continue to promote differentiated products, deepen travel experiences, and carry out precise international marketing based on the characteristics and preferences of different visitor markets, while balancing visitor scale, tourism benefits, and sustainable development to continuously build a Taiwanese tourism brand that combines scale, quality, and sustainability.