A report by the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) has shown that Taiwan saw a 26.7% increase in international tourist visits during the first half of 2014.
This was the highest level of growth in the world during the first half of the year. Runner up Japan saw a 26.4% increase in tourist arrivals, while number three on the report’s list, Mexico, saw an increase of 19.8%.
The report shows that global tourism in the first half of the year grew by 4.6% overall, with over 500 million tourists travelling overseas during the period. The UNWTO predicts that the tourism market will feel the impact of the global political situation in the second half of the year. However, even with the predicted slowdown, the UNWTO still predicts that the global tourism industry will grow between 4-4.5% this year.
So far, 2014 has been a good year for the tourism industry in Northeast Asia, with strong growth in Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, and Hong Kong. Growth in the region as a whole reached 5.4% in the first half of the year. Only China, which has seen negative growth of 2%, has bucked this trend.