The Taipei City government and Taiwan's flagship airline have decided to offer more attractively priced travel packages for tourists from Shanghai, Taipei City officials said Wednesday.

Starting Aug. 1, a package that includes a direct round trip flight on China Airlines (CAL) from Shanghai and hotel accommodation in Taipei will cost 2,470 yuan (US$385.9), the city's Department of Information and Tourism (DIT) said.

Such a package offers a three-day tour of Taipei, including two nights of hotel accommodation.

Moreover, CAL plans to raise the weight limit for checked luggage by 10 kilograms per person, as part of the package, the DIT said.

CAL and the DIT had put together a discounted travel package after Taipei and Shanghai signed three memorandums of understanding July 25 on closer cooperation in the fields of education, travel and medicine.

The package was priced at 2,620 yuan, which was 10 percent to 20 percent off the usual market price.

But DIT Commissioner Chao Hsin-ping decided to cut the price further to attract more Shanghai travelers to Taipei, the department said.

Since Taiwan opened its doors to Chinese tourists in July 2008, China has surpassed Japan as Taiwan's largest source of tourism, Chao said.

Last year, Chinese tourists accounted for 29.3 percent of all foreign visitors to Taiwan, Chao added.

Furthermore, since a free independent traveler (FIT) program for Chinese visitors was implemented in Taiwan on June 28, Taipei City has been issuing up to 500 FIT permits per day, she said.

If every FIT from China decides to stay an extra day in Taipei, the city's tourism revenue will increase by NT$1.2 billion (US$41.6 million) a year, she estimated.