TAIPEI, Aug. 18 (Xinhua/APP) –:Taiwan’s tourist attractions received more than 120 million trips in the first half of the year, up 2.9 percent year on year but still shrinking by nearly 30 percent compared with that before the COVID-19 pandemic, statistics from the island’s tourism authority showed.

   The city of Hsinchu took a heavy hit from the tourism depression, with the number of visitors plummeting by 58.4 percent year on year, said the authority.

   Fortunately, the tourism market is in recovery, especially during the summer peak season, as the accommodation subsidies attracted more tourists, said the authority.

   Statistics from the authority showed that a total of 126 million tourist trips were made in 2021, setting a new low over the past 10 years, which was mainly attributable to the Level-3 alert for COVID-19.