How the influx of Chinese tourists affects national tourism behaviors: Evidence from Taiwan

Taiwan implemented its tourism open policy for Chinese tourists in 2008, thereby inducing a skyrocketing-growth of tourist arrivals from China in subsequent years. This paper examines the influence of Chinese tourist arrivals on national tourism in Taiwan. Based on individual-level data in 2006–2013, empirical estimations find no crowding-out effect on national tourism, whereas Taiwan's residents exhibit an increasing frequency of domestic trips. Crucially, residents lower their willingness to visit most of famous tourism sites that Chinese tourists prefer to visit, suggesting the increasing domestic tourists are crowded out from famous tourist attractions and, instead, visiting some local scenic sites.