To facilitate timely release of monthly data on Travel Agencies and the Hotel Industry, the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) releases extrapolated results of the respective surveys within the month following the reference month starting January 2014. Visitor arrivals in package tour totalled 745,000 in January 2014, down by 2% year-on-year, attributable to the decrease in visitors from the Republic of Korea and Mainland China. Visitors from Taiwan (57,000); Hong Kong (39,000) and Thailand (13,000) registered year-on-year increase, whereas those from Mainland China (560,000), the Republic of Korea (33,000) and Japan (11,000) recorded decrease. Outbound residents using services of travel agencies were 111,000 in January, up by 1% year-on-year; those travelling in package tour totalled 42,000 and the main destinations were Mainland China at 29,000 (71% of the total); the Republic of Korea (8%); and Taiwan (7%). There were 98 hotels and guesthouses operating at the end of January 2014, providing 28,000 guest rooms, up by 7% year-on-year; 5-star hotels had 18,000 rooms, accounting for 66% of the total. In January 2014, a total of 873,000 guests checked into hotels and guesthouses, up by 5% year-on-year, with 530,000 staying in 5-star hotels. The average length of stay of guests held stable as January 2013, at 1.4 nights. The average occupancy rate was 81%, down by 3 percentage points year-on-year, with 5-star hotels leading at 83%. In January 2014, visitor-guests took up 70% of the total number of overnight visitors, similar to that in January 2013.
