Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that visitor arrivals in package tour surged by 30% year-on-year to 1,267,000 during the summer holidays in August 2014. Visitors from Mainland China increased by 36% to 1,050,000, with 396,000 coming from Guangdong Province. Visitors from Taiwan (71,000), Hong Kong (41,000), the Republic of Korea (36,000) and Japan (14,000) increased by 13%, 7%, 11% and 20% respectively, while those from Thailand (11,000) decreased by 31%. In the first eight months of 2014, visitor arrivals in package tour reached 7,810,000, up by 21% year-on-year. Outbound residents using services of travel agencies were 155,000 in August, up by 15% year-on-year; those travelling in package tour totalled 54,000 and the main destinations were Mainland China (72% of total), Taiwan (7%) and the Republic of Korea (7%). In the first eight months of 2014, outbound residents totalled 1,021,000, up by 7% year-on-year. There were 98 hotels and guesthouses operating at the end of August 2014, providing 28,000 guest rooms, up by 1% year-on-year; 5-star hotels accounted for 66% of the total supply, with 18,000 rooms. Number of guests checking into hotels and guesthouses dropped by 3% year-on-year to 965,000 in August, due to a notable decrease in guests from Hong Kong (125,000) and Taiwan (32,000); meanwhile guests from Mainland China increased by 9 % to 639,000. The average length of stay of guests was 1.4 nights, up by 0.1 night year-on-year. The average occupancy rate of hotels and guesthouses dropped slightly by 0.2 percentage points year-on-year to 90%, with 4-star hotels leading at 92%. In the first eight months of 2014, hotel guests totalled 7,214,000, up by 1% year-on-year; the average occupancy rate stood at 87%, an increase of 5 percentage points. In the first eight months of 2014, visitor-guests accounted for 69% of the total overnight visitors, down by 1 percentage point year-on-year.
