CNA file photo

Taipei, June 19 (CNA) Over 420,000 Singaporeans visited Taiwan in 2017, the highest number of visitors from the city state since the establishment of the Singapore Office of the Taiwan Visitors Association (TVA), the office's Director Trust Lin (林信任) said Tuesday.

According to Taiwan's Tourism Bureau statistics, visitors from Singapore were recorded as 425,577 in 2017, 407,267 in 2016, 393,037 in 2015, 376,235 in 2014, 364,733 in 2013, 327,253 in 2012, 299,599 in 2011 and 241,334 in 2010.

Visitor numbers have been on a steady increase since 2010 after a slight drop to 194,523 in 2009 from 205,449 in 2008, the statistics show.

Lin said that in 1978, when the office was first set up in the city state, approximately 40,000 Singaporeans visited Taiwan, but numbers have continuously increased.

The jurisdiction of the TVA's Singapore Office also covers Australia, New Zealand, India and the Middle East, Lin went on, adding that it is hoped Taiwan will become a premier tourist destination for people from these countries.

(By Huang Tzu-chiang and William Yen)
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