Macau visitor arrivals up 13 pct in first nine mths
Macau, the only city in China where casinos are legal, recorded 13.7 million visitor arrivals in the first three quarters of the year, up 13 percent from the same period last year, the statistics department said on Friday.
Same-day visitor accounted for some 52 percent of all visitor arrivals between January and September.
Casino executives estimate that three-quarters of all visitors play the tables during their visits to the territory, whose gaming industry comprises 17 casinos, dog and horse races, and a string of lotteries.
Last year, Macau logged a record 16.67 visitor arrivals, as against 11.88 million in 2002.
In September, Macau welcomed 1.45 million visitors, a year-on-year increase of 10.7 per cent.
Mainland Chinese accounted for 54.8 percent of all arrivals during the month, followed by people from Hong Kong at 30.8 percent and Taiwan at 8.3 percent. ADVERTISEMENT
Drawn by the growing number of visitors and increasingly affluent Chinese gamblers, international companies have announced plans to pour billions of dollars into new casinos and hotels in Macau since it ended its casino monopoly system in 2002.
The tiny southern Chinese territory, which has just 476,000 residents, was ruled by Portugal for four centuries before reverting to Chinese rule in 1999.
2005-10-22
