Taiwan’s hotel market grows in the first quarter

• By Shelley Shan / Staff reporter

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The hotel market grew slightly in the first quarter, with the average hotel room price rising to NT$3,101, up 1.5 percent from NT$3,054 in the same period last year, Tourism Administration data showed.

Tourism Administration officials attributed the increase to higher operating costs, such as for electricity, labor and food.

The pace of price growth has slowed compared with previous years, suggesting that room rates are stabilizing rather than continuing to climb sharply, the officials said.

Photo: Huang Yi-ching, Taipei Times

The total number of hotels and other accommodation designed for tourists was 3,396, a slight drop of 17 properties compared with a year earlier, the data showed.

Despite the small decline, the overall supply of rooms remained largely unchanged at about 198,000 units, the agency said.

About 80 percent of hotel rooms were priced below the average rate of NT$3,101, meaning the average was inflated by a relatively small number of higher-priced properties, the data showed.

Most hotels are operating in the lower-to-mid price range, reflecting a fairly broad spread of budget options across the sector, the agency said.

Occupancy rates continued to improve, the agency said.

First-quarter occupancy increased to 53.11 percent this year, from 51.61 percent last year and 49.29 percent a year earlier, the data showed.

While the increases were modest, they pointed to a slow recovery in demand after earlier fluctuations in travel patterns, the agency said.

Hotels recorded 18.218 million guest stays in the first quarter, up from 17.418 million in 2024 and 17.758 million last year, it added.

Local residents accounted for 13.091 million stays, or about 71.9 percent of the total, the data showed.

Reliance on local demand continues to shape the industry, with international tourism playing a secondary role in overall hotel performance, the Tourism Administration said.