It is announced by a spokesman from the Taiwan Strait Tourism Exchange Association that the number of mainland tourists visiting Taiwan in the first seven months of 2010 was 707,400: an increase of 109% year on year.

The Chairman of the tourism association, Mr Shao Qiwei said that the average number of mainland tourists exceeded 100,000 per month, and the cross-strait communications have been enhanced and the number of flights between the island and the Chinese mainland has been in creased greatly since July 18, 2008, when the local government in Taiwan opened tourism to mainland residents.

If the current rate of growth is maintained, the total number of mainland tourists visiting Taiwan in 2010 is expected to grow to 1 million and it might even reach 1.2 million.