The tourism business thrived during the recent National Day holidays, with more visitors and their generous spending, according to Pingtan Times on Oct 8.

Tourists fill a beach in Pingtan, Fujian province, during the National Day Holiday. [Photo/pingtan.gov.cn]

The numbers speak for themselves, as during the seven-day “golden week”, Pingtan saw an influx of 152,000 tourists, an increase of 80 percent year-on-year, with a tourism revenue of 39.3 million yuan ($6.4 million), which almost quadrupled over the previous year, said the local tourism bureau.

More than 60,000 visitors arrived in the first days. And about 80 percent of them chose to drive themselves.

Nearly 20,000 vehicles drove in and out of Pingtan in the seven days. The number was about 51 percent more than the previous year.

Besides the well-known tourist destinations, many islets in the likes of Tangyu, Dongjia and Dongxiang became new places of interest for the tourists.

In addition, the duty-free Taiwan commodity market attracted a lot of buyers during the period. The market, which sells Taiwan-imported products under a tax-free cap of 6,000 yuan for each person, reported 120,000 visitors in all during the holidays. The peak descended on Oct 4 and 5, with about 30,000 people swarming in on each day.