Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that visitors on package tours totalled 707,000 in June 2015, down by 17.5% year-on-year. Package tour visitors from Mainland China (566,000) decreased by 16.0% year-on-year, and those from Taiwan (46,000), Hong Kong (21,000), the Republic of Korea (16,000) and Japan (13,000) dropped by 26.4%, 23.6%, 42.2% and 25.3% respectively. Visitors arriving on package tours decreased by 16.7% year-on-year to 576,000; meanwhile, visitors joining local tours totalled 131,000, down by 20.8%. In the first half year of 2015, visitors on package tours totalled 4,944,000, up by 1.4% year-on-year; those arriving on package tours increased by 1.3% to 4,031,000. Outbound residents using services of travel agencies totalled 121,000 in June 2015, down by 3.5% year-on-year. Those travelling on package tours decreased by 12.0% to 47,000, and the main destinations were Mainland China (74.1% of total), Taiwan (9.4%) and Hong Kong (5.3%). Due to the outbreak of the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome, residents travelling to the Republic of Korea on package tours tumbled by 83.8%. In the first half year of 2015, outbound residents using services of travel agencies totalled 737,000, up by 3.9% year-on-year. There were 102 hotels and guesthouses operating at the end of June 2015, providing 30,000 guest rooms, up by 7.2% year-on-year. Number of guest rooms in 5-star hotels totalled 20,000, accounting for 66.6% of the total supply. A total of 859,000 guests checked into hotels and guesthouses in June 2015, down by 1.9% year-on-year. Guests from Mainland China (518,000) and Taiwan (33,000) decreased by 7.0% and 0.7% respectively, while those from Hong Kong (139,000) increased by 24.8%. The average length of stay of guests held stable as June 2014, at 1.4 nights. The average occupancy rate of hotels and guesthouses dropped notably by 10.6 percentage points year-on-year to 73.9%, with that of 3-star hotels leading at 75.7% and yet showing a decrease of 7.1 percentage points year-on-year. Moreover, the occupancy rate of 5-star hotels dropped by 10.7 percentage points to 75.3%. In the first half year of 2015, hotel guests totalled 4,908,000, down by 7.6% year-on-year; the average occupancy rate stood at 78.1%, a decrease of 7.8 percentage points. Visitor-guests accounted for 69.6% of the total overnight visitors, down by 0.7 percentage points year-on-year.
