TAIPEI - The cap on independent mainland tourists visiting Taiwan has been raised from 4,000 to 5,000 per day starting from this week as the island tried to recover from disappointing tourism business.

Taiwanese authorities said last week they would increase the number of mainland tourists they allow to enter after Taiwan's financial agency announced that the global spending slowdown had affected tourism revenue.

Additionally, the number of visitors allowed to travel between east China's Fujian Province and Kinmen and Matsu was increased from 500 to 1,000 per day from Sept. 10.

The daily number of mainland group tourists remains the same. But Taiwanese firms are encouraged to give their mainland employees incentive tours to Taiwan without visa fees and quota restrictions.

Caps on visitors numbers have been raised several times since 2008, when mainland tourists were first allowed to visit Taiwan.