The Chinese mainland and Taiwan will open tourism representative offices on each other's side of the Taiwan Strait in May, a mainland spokeswoman said here Wednesday.

The mainland-based Cross-Strait Tourism Exchange Association (CTEA) will set up its Taipei office on May 7, while the Taiwan-based Taiwan Strait Tourism Association will establish its Beijing office three days earlier on May 4, Fan Liqing, a spokeswoman for the State Council's Taiwan Affairs Office said.

The offices will provide convenient services for tourists from both sides of the Strait, with a focus on tourism consultation, advertising, coordination, and dispute resolution, Fan said.

She said establishment of the offices will facilitate cross-Strait exchange and cooperation, while contributing to the mutual prosperity and development of both sides of the Strait.

Taiwan lifted its ban on mainland tourists in June 2008, and the first group of mainland tourists arrived in July that year.

The Chinese mainland has become the second largest source of tourists to Taiwan.

About 606,000 mainland tourists visited Taiwan in 2009, spending an estimated $1.3 billion on the island, according to CTEA.

(Xinhua News Agency April 14, 2010)