Tourists from the Chinese mainland brought more than 5 billion US dollars in profits to Taiwan's sightseeing sector in about three-and-a-half years, the island's mainland affairs department estimated on Saturday.

By the end of last year, more than 3.05 million mainland tourists visited Taiwan since the island allowed mainland tourists to visit in tour groups in July 2008, the department said.

It estimated that each mainland tourist spent 263.09 US dollars each day in the island and stayed for 6.5 nights on average, resulting in billions of dollars in profits for the island's tourism sector.

Taiwan also increased the daily quota of visiting mainland tourists from 3,000 to 4,000 on Jan. 1, 2011.

Since the island opened to independent visits by mainlanders last June, a total of 38,549 mainlanders were approved to visit the island, with 29,187 touring Taiwan within the 15-day limit, the department said, stressing that none of these visitors illegally prolonged their stay in the island.