BEIJING - A total of 1.12 million Chinese mainland tourists visited Taiwan during the January-November period this year, a mainland spokesman said Wednesday.

About 1.1 million mainland tourists visited Taiwan in groups and 22,000 as individuals, Yang Yi, spokesman for the State Council Taiwan Affairs Office, said at a regular press conference.

More than 5,000 mainland tourists are visiting Taiwan every day, Yang said.

According to Yang, about 20 million to 30 million mainland tourists travel to Hong Kong annually, but only 1.22 million visited Taiwan in 2010.

"There will be a good future and great potential for attracting mainland tourists to Taiwan, as long as cross-Straits relations maintain sound development," Yang said.

Airline companies have started to provide extra flights between the Chinese mainland and Taiwan, and an application for more cross-Straits flights is under consideration, Yang said.

The utmost efforts will be made to meet the demands of Taiwanese people living on the mainland to return home for the upcoming Spring Festival holiday, Yang said.

According to agreements between both sides, airline companies providing cross-Straits direct flights can apply for extra flights around the time of the Spring Festival to meet demand, and no restrictions will be imposed on the total amount of such flights except for a small number of popular destinations, Yang said.

The Association of Taiwan Investment Enterprises on the Mainland, Taiwan affairs agencies and airline companies have reached a consensus on group ticket discounts for Taiwanese people, according to Yang.