The number of Macao's visitor arrivals reached 1,921,384 in June, a remarkable year-on-year rise of 20.3 percent, according to official statistics issued Friday.

The figures from the government-run Statistics and Census Service (SCS) showed that the majority of the visitors in the month came from China's mainland (51.8 percent), Hong Kong (32.2 percent) and Taiwan (6.3 percent).

Among the mainland visitors, some 50 percent traveled to Macao under the Individual Visit Scheme, which frees mainland tourists from the group tour.

Macao, the only part of China where casino gaming is legal, has been enhancing its fame as a tourism destination with the aid of the booming gaming industry.

(Xinhua News Agency July 21, 2007)