Macau, China, 26 Dec – Around 28 million visitors went to Macau in the first 11 months of the year, which represents an increase of 13.4 percent against the same period in 2007, according to the region’s Statistics and Census Bureau.
According to official statistics, between January and November Macau received 27.63 million visitors, 58 percent of which were from mainland China.
Macau received 16.1 million visitors from mainland China in the first 11 months of the year, which represents an increase of 20.1 percent against the same period in 2007.
The total number of visitors from Hong Kong in the period came to 14.6 million, a slight rise of 0.6 percent against the same period last year.
The figures revealed by the government show that the direct flights between Taiwan and mainland China have had an impact on visitors from the island. In the first 11 months of 2008, the number of visitors from Taiwan came to 1.2 million, a drop of 7.73 percent versus the same period in 2007.
Visitors from Japan and the Republic of Korea came to 328,000 and 264,000, respectively, which represent rises of 23.4 percent and 34 percent.
The number of visitors from Southeast Asia, namely Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and Singapore, grew 38.53 percent between January and November, 2008, when compared to the same period in 2007.
The region’s Statistics and Census Bureau also said that in November of this year, Macau received 2.53 million visitors, a rise of 3 percent compared to the same month in 2007.
The number of visitors from mainland China (1.46 million), from Hong Kong (695,000) and Southeast Asia (139,000) rose 4.2, 5.9 and 7.5 percent, respectively.
Visitor numbers from Taiwan continue to fall with the number of visitors entering Macau in November reaching 100,000, which compares to 123,000 in November of 2007, a drop of 18.7 percent.
A majority of the visitors that went to Macau in the first 11 months of the year came in via the border with mainland China. This figure came to 17.3 million, which represents an increase of 15.6 percent against the same period in 2007.
The number of visitors that entered Macau by sea in first 11 months of the year, nearly all from Hong Kong, came to around 8.8 million, an increase of 8.7 percent.
A total of 1.55 million tourists went to Macau by air between January and November of 2008, an increase 17.3 percent versus the same period in 2007.
Macau Government Tourist Office (MTGO) director Joao Manuel Costa Antunes said in November that 30 million tourists are expected to visit Macau this year. In 2007, Macau received 27 million tourists.
(MacauNews)
