This year's Spring Festival holiday saw a tourist boom in Taiwan, with nearly half of the local residents out for sightseeing, the island's tourism authority said Monday.

From Jan. 26, the first day of the Chinese lunar New Year, to Feb. 1, the authority recorded 11.33 million visitors to the island's tourist attractions, up 92 percent from the last new year holiday.

The tourism revenue during the seven days topped 22.54 billion New Taiwan dollars (676.2 million U.S. dollars), the authority said.

The booming tourist market was partly stimulated by the distribution of shopping coupons, the tourist department said, adding that amusement parks and hot spring hotels all recorded surges in income.

The Taiwan authorities handed out shopping coupons worth more than 85 billion New Taiwan dollars (about 2.6 billion U.S. dollars) prior to the holiday to spur spending amid an export downturn, insufficient consumer demand and lack of investment.

Source: Xinhua