The Taiwan Tourism Bureau has welcomed the country’s nine millionth foreign visitor this week.

Lo Tak Pui from Hong Kong was welcomed at the arrivals gate and showered with £10,000 worth of gifts, including a return round trip to Taiwan, as well as hotel accommodation, consumer electronics and local souvenirs.

This marks the first occasion that Taiwan has had more than nine million visitors in a single year, eclipsing the eight million milestone that was first achieved in 2013.

With December being a popular month for travel to Taiwan, the Tourism Bureau predicts the final figure for 2014 will be in the region of 9.8 million foreign visitors.

Taiwan has now set a target of attracting 10 million international visitors in 2015 and the Tourism Bureau is focused on providing a more convenient travel environment for all foreign travellers, including an establishment of more free Wi-Fi hotspots as well as multi-language travel services.

The UK has seen a particularly large increase in the number of tourists to Taiwan in 2014, with January – October seeing a 15 per cent rise compared to 2013.

October was an extremely popular month, with 6,568 UK visitors, a massive 64 per cent increase on the previous year.