TAIWAN outbound travel to Europe has seen a nearly 40 per cent increase this year, according to the country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The ministry attributed the rise to the ease of obtaining visas under the European Union’s Schengen visa-waiver programme for Taiwan passport holders that went into effect on January 11.
Year-on-year comparisons show Taiwan outbound to Europe increasing 39.6 per cent for March to August, with a peak of 57 per cent in July alone.
Grace Chou, director of European sales, Lion Travel, confirmed that Taiwan travel agencies were seeing an increase in outbound traffic to Europe, but was surprised by the figures reported by the ministry.
“Forty per cent is a bit incredible,” said Chou, adding that Lion Travel, in comparison, experienced growth in Taiwan outbound to Europe of 10 to 15 per cent for group tours, and 20 to 25 per cent for FITs.
Chou said she doubted if the numbers could be much higher as there has not been a corresponding increase in flight frequencies to Europe during this period.
According to Zhou, besides the visa-waiver scheme, another reason for the boost in Taiwan outbound to Europe is favorable exchange rates.
“The NT dollar to euro exchange rate had been around 1 to 43 or 44, but has dropped below 1 to 40 at times this year,” she said.
By Glenn Smith
