Macao registered 430,599 visitor arrivals in package tours in January 2009, increasing by 12.7 percent from a year earlier, according to the figures released on Thursday by the city's Statistics and Census Service (DSEC).

The figures showed that the number of visitors from the Chinese mainland (319,375) and Hong Kong (31,769) rose by 16 percent and 40.5 percent year-on-year respectively, while those from Japan (15,269) decreased by 5.7 percent during the period.

Meanwhile, the number of Macao residents traveling outbound in package tours rose markedly by 34 percent year-on-year to 18,132 on account of the Lunar New Year falling in January 2009, the DSEC said.

The Chinese mainland, South Korea and China's Taiwan, accounting for 68.7 percent, 6.5 percent and 6.1 percent of the total respectively, were the three most popular tour itineraries for the locals, according to the DSEC.

Source: Xinhua