Recreational Activities and Tourism Expenditure in Taiwan: An Online Buzz Perspective

This study examines the influence of online search behavior—specifically keywords related to recreational activities popular among Taiwanese domestic travelers—on total tourism expenditure. Utilizing high-frequency data from Google Trends, the analysis investigates how public interest in specific leisure activities correlates with tourism spending. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) is used to extract key indicators representing aggregated search trends, which are then incorporated into a Vector Autoregression (VAR) model to assess their dynamic relationship with tourism expenditure. Results indicate that among four major categories—gourmet, nature sightseeing, other leisure, and cultural experiences—six keywords (“drinking coffee,†“whale watching,†“shopping,†“farm,†“indigenous culture,†and “boating†) significantly affect domestic tourism expenditure. These activities contribute to broader consumption in areas such as lodging, transportation, and dining. The study contributes by (1) demonstrating the predictive utility of online search data for tourism economics, and (2) highlighting the growing significance of specific recreational activities, consistent with official statistics.  JEL classification numbers: C60, O11, R11.