ROC records strong transport, travel numbers

2014-11-05

Taiwan chalked up significant growth in transportation and tourism for the first three quarters of 2014, according to the Ministry of Transportation and Communications Nov. 3.

Passenger numbers on national and municipal rail services grew 5.7 percent year on year to 2.76 million per day. Taipei Metro accounted for about 66 percent of the traffic, posting daily numbers of 1.83 million. Kaohsiung Metro also saw stable growth during this period with 168,000 per day.

Taiwan Railways Administration reported an increase of 2.9 percent in passenger traffic on the national network, registering an average of 637,000 per day. This was attributed to the new Puyuma service. Taiwan High Speed Rail posted a daily total of 131,000, same figure as the year before.

The country’s international commercial ports achieved 52.4 percent year-on-year growth in passenger numbers, reaching 1.18 million. Kaohsiung and Keelung ports saw significant rises in the number of cruise line passengers, up 58.6 percent and 78.1 percent, respectively, from 2013.

Port container traffic followed suit, with overall cargo capacity reaching record 11.1 million 20-foot equivalent units (TEU). Cross-strait trade contributed to 1.83 million TEU from January to September, up 11.9 percent year on year.

Regarding air transport, 40.57 million travelers passed through Taiwan’s airports for the first three quarters, notching up the highest growth of 10.3 percent in 17 years. Healthy results were also recorded by the 14 international low-cost airlines servicing Taiwan. They carried 2.38 million passengers during this period, representing a jump of 45.1 percent.

Taiwan’s tourism industry also experienced impressive results during this period. According to MOTC statistics, 7.25 million tourists visited the island, with 6.57 million from Asia. The top three sources of arrivals were mainland China, Japan, and Hong Kong and Macau. South Korea’s 380,000 visitors represented another milestone.

According to the U.N. World Tourism Organization statistics, Taiwan boasted the highest growth of 26.7 percent in foreign tourist arrivals worldwide in the first half of 2014, head and shoulders above its Asian neighbors.

Source: Taiwan Today (http://taiwantoday.tw/ct.asp?xItem=223663&CtNode=413)