The recent unprecedented growth of the New Taiwan dollar will strongly affect both international and domestic tourism, according to the National Chamber of Commerce Chairman Lai Cheng-yi (賴正鎰). In a Monday interview, Lai said that Taiwanese are rushing to buy U.S. dollars, which may lead to a surge in people going abroad this summer rather than taking domestic vacations.
Recently, the New Taiwan dollar has appreciated by 6% to 8% against the U.S. dollar, Japanese yen, and euro. The growth has also increased the cost of consumption for foreign tourists in Taiwan, also affecting the number of inbound tourists.
Lai stated that the number of tourists to Japan in the first two months of this year has broken records, and with this currency change, he predicts that the number of people going abroad in 2025 should be higher than in pre-pandemic 2019. Lai elaborated that domestic travel business will decrease sharply, which will cause irreversible and serious damage to Taiwan's tourism industry. He heavily suggested that the government prepare for the coming impact as soon as possible by not only strengthening the marketing of Taiwan tourism, but also lifting the ban on cross-strait tours.
According to statistics from the Tourism Administration, 2024 saw approximately 7.9 million people entering Taiwan and nearly 16.9 million people leaving. In the first two months of 2025, inbound tourists numbered roughly 1.4 million, and outbound over 3 million, which is on track to set a new record.