Is Domestic Tourism in Taiwan Reviving? Booking Rates Exceed 80% in 3 Cities During Mid-Autumn Festival; Expert Points Out a Strange Phenomenon: Stop Comparing Prices with Japan

During the Mid-Autumn Festival and Teachers' Day holidays, many families went out for trips. According to statistics from the Tourism Administration of the Ministry of Transportation, crowds appeared everywhere, and the peak booking rate for accommodations exceeded 67%, with three counties/cities reaching 80%. Chiayi City had the highest rate at 82.07%, followed by Pingtung County at 81.84%, and Tainan City at 80%, sparking discussions on whether domestic tourism is recovering. In response, stock commentator 'Guren A-Xun' posted on Facebook, lamenting that the issue is not that no one wants to travel domestically, but that homestay operators are facing a situation of 'no guests on weekdays, fully booked on holidays,' forcing them to raise prices during holidays. He said that the real solution for Taiwan's domestic tourism is not to keep comparing prices with Japan, but to make consumers feel that the money they spend is worth it. The high cost of domestic hotel rooms has long been criticized, but this Mid-Autumn Festival holiday saw a booking rate of over 67%. Guren A-Xun noted that whenever domestic tourism is discussed, someone always says 'it's cheaper to go to Japan.' However, this year's Mid-Autumn Festival produced an interesting figure: as of noon on September 25, the average booking rate for accommodations across Taiwan on September 26 was 67.07%, the peak of the four-day holiday. 'Online, everyone says domestic tourism is too expensive and they don't want to go, but when the holiday actually comes, hotels are still full of people,' he said. Therefore, 'domestic tourism is not good' and 'there is no demand for domestic tourism' are two different things. Taiwan's biggest problem may not be that people don't want to travel at all, but that travel time is highly concentrated on weekends, holidays, popular attractions, or a few popular hotels. This creates a situation of empty rooms on weekdays and full occupancy on holidays. To compensate for empty rooms on weekdays, operators concentrate their income on holidays, forcing them to raise room rates during holidays, making consumers think, 'At this price, why not go to Japan?' Guren A-Xun believes that the real solution for Taiwan's domestic tourism is not to keep comparing with Japan on 'who is cheaper,' but to make consumers feel that the experience they get for their money is worth it. 'Cheapness is not the only competitiveness, but if the price is not cheap, the value must be felt,' he said.