|
Focus on tourism to
help economy
By Tu Jenn-hwa §ù¾_µØ
Taiwan¡¦s economy is affected by the overall global economic climate and this is
something that cannot be turned around overnight. Taiwanese have gotten used to
living in comfort and do not like the prospect of having to tighten their belts.
The press, too, has been fanning the flames, lambasting the government for being
¡§unfeeling¡¨ and ¡§indifferent¡¨ when it is trying to do its best. Mid to long-term
projects are unlikely to set the public¡¦s mind at ease and short-term measures
have all but been exhausted, so the situation is not going to improve any time
soon.
One possible option is to concentrate on international tourist traffic. This
kind of transnational traffic tends to have deep pockets and is happy to splash
the cash. All that is needed is to offer the incentives to get them to do so.
Therefore, companies and the government could look into ways to get these
international arrivals and transit passengers to part with their cash.
In the past, we have concentrated on the number of foreign tourists coming to
the country and the press have reported new trends and records set in this
regard. Further examination reveals, however, that it is the ¡§quality¡¨ of
international arrivals that is more important. This is because consumption
levels are more directly related to an individual traveler¡¦s economic means than
anything else.
Statistics bear this out. In 2010, France had the highest number of
international arrivals, at 77.15 million, followed by the US with just under
59.8 million. However, revenue from international arrivals in the US was, at
US$165.8 billion, considerably higher than the US$56.7 billion spent in France.
That is to say, the average foreign tourist in France spends US$735, compared
with an average of US$2,773 spent in the US. There are many factors that account
for the higher average expenditure in the US by foreign tourists, including
longer stays, a higher number of items purchased and the amount of money spent
at tourist attractions.
If you look at the amount of international traffic Taiwan receives, you can see
that we fall well behind our neighbors. In 2010, for example, we had a total of
just under 5.6 million visitors from overseas, compared with just under 24.6
million for Malaysia; over 20 million for Hong Kong; a little under 16 million
for Thailand; just over 9 million for Singapore; 8.8 million for South Korea;
somewhat over 8.6 million for Japan and 7 million for Indonesia.
In terms of revenue for that year, Taiwan did better than Indonesia, earning
US$9.2 billion compared with Indonesia¡¦s US$7.6 billion, but there is still a
way to go before we are up to the level of earnings of Malaysia, Hong Kong,
Thailand, Singapore, South Korea and Japan, which generated US$18.3 billion;
US$27 billion; US$23.4 billion; US$14.2 billion; US$13.8 billion; and US$15.4
billion, respectively.
Foreign tourists spend, on average, US$1,600 here. This is second only to the
average spent by foreign tourists in Japan, whose average expenditure is
NT$1,790. It is consistently higher than the figures for our neighboring
countries. If we want to take this up a level, we can do two things: First,
improve the existing facilities to attract more tourists and secondly, make it
so the average expenditure of visiting tourists continues to rise. The figure of
US$9.2 billion represents 2 percent of Taiwan¡¦s GDP. If we can get this to
double, it would mean a 1 percentage point increase in our economic growth rate.
Of course, this assumes that all of the money is spent on domestically produced
goods and services, but even if half of them are made here, that still means a
0.5 percentage point increase.
We could set up high-class boutiques selling Taiwanese products, gifts,
cosmetics and jewelry in the transit hall so that transit passengers can spend
all their money before leaving the country ¡X smiling and laden with goods.
We could hand out discount vouchers, especially for more expensive tourist
attractions, to international arrivals waiting to go through passport checks to
stimulate their consumerist impulses and provide Internet or mobile shopping
services, with collection points in the airports for them to pick up their
purchases before they leave the country, as well as courier services. Finally,
we could differentiate services, depending on their quality, so that consumers
are more assured of a reliable environment in which to spend their money.
The only trouble is, many of these measures require competence and
interdepartmental coordination to work. Is this government up to the job?
Tu Jenn-hwa is director of the Business Development and Policy Research
Department of the Commerce Development Research Institute.
Translated by Paul Cooper
|
