The number of visitors to the nation’s 16 national forest recreation areas during the nine-day Lunar New Year holidays increased this year, reaching a total of 211,782, the Forestry Bureau said yesterday.
Officials said 166,031 people visited the parks during the first five days of the Lunar New Year, a 5.28 percent increase compared with the same period last year and a 60.59 percent increase on 2010.
The number of visitors at parks in northern and central Taiwan fell by 14.19 percent and 5.74 percent respectively, the bureau said, adding that the decrease could be attributed to the low temperatures and rainy weather during the holidays.
However, the number of visitors to parks in southern and eastern Taiwan rose 25.54 percent and 34.19 percent respectively, the bureau said, adding that because of the better weather in southern and eastern parts of the nation, the number of visitors at forest parks such as -Alishan (阿里山), Kenting (墾丁), Jhihben (知本), Fuyuan (富源) increased by about 30 percent this year.
Kenting and Shuangliou (雙流) National Forest Recreation Areas, in Pingtung County, attracted about 30,000 visitors in the first week of the Lunar New Year, the bureau said. In addition, snowfall in He-huanshan (合歡山) and Taipingshan (太平山) also drew many visitors.
A new real-time total capacity system was introduced at Tai-pingshan during the holidays, informing people when the park was approaching its 3,000 visitor capacity. At the same time, information on nearby community parks and hiking trails was automatically displayed on highway electronic bulletin boards near the park.
The system also passed on regularly updated information to the Police Radio Station, the bureau said, adding that the system improved the quality of ecotourism in the park by controlling total capacity, and also helped introduce visitors to nearby communities.
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