Puzzlement Over Sharp Drop of Taiwanese Visits to US/Europe

choi

(1) Lee Hsin-Yin, Travel From Taiwan to US at 20-Year Low Despite Visa Waiver. Central News Agency, Oct 31, 2013
http://focustaiwan.tw/news/asoc/201310310023.aspx
(22% decline for first nine months of the year [comparted with same period a year ago]; travel to Europe by Taiwanese passport holders plummeted 55%, while travel within Asia increased by 11% in the same period)

(2) Foreign Tourists Break Record for September. Kyodo News, Oct 24, 2013.
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news ... cord-for-september/

Quote:

(a) "The number of foreign tourists in September surged 31.7 percent over the previous year to 867,000, breaking the record for the month, according to the Japan National Tourism Organization.

(b) "In the reporting month, the highest number of tourists came from Taiwan at 206,800, an all-time high for the month, leaving South Korean visitors [traditional the largest source of tourists to Japan, followed by Taiwanese] second overall. China came in third with 156,300 visitors, up 28.5 percent for another all-time high for the month.

"The Chinese number marked the first rebound in a year since last October, when year-on-year numbers fell because of the bilateral clash over the Japanese government’s effective nationalization in September 2012 of the Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea. China and Taiwan also claim sovereignty over the isles.