Generational divide clear in travel to China: Tourism Administration – Focus Taiwan

Taipei, May 19 (CNA) There has been a sizable generational divide in travel to China among Taiwanese over the past 16 years, with younger travelers less likely to go there than older individuals, according to a breakdown of national travel statistics.

Since direct aviation links were opened across the Taiwan Strait in 2008, 38.15 million Taiwanese had traveled to China as of the end of 2023, making it the second most popular outbound destination for Taiwanese after Japan (39.55 million visits), according to Taiwan’s Tourism Administration.

Among those travelers, the most visits to China (9.42 million) were made by people in the 50-59 age group, followed by the 40-49 age group with 9.35 million visits.

Younger travelers, aged 20-29, only accounted for 2.9 million visits, indicating a significant gap in travel preferences.

By comparison, people in the 20-29 age group visited Japan 6.55 million times during the same period, or 125 percent more than the number of visits to China,…