Macao recorded 5.25 million visitor arrivals in the first quarter of 2006, a year-on-year rise of 17.7 percent, according to official statistics issued here on Monday.

The figures from the government-run Statistics and Census Service (SCS) showed that the majority of visitors came from the Chinese mainland (57.6 percent), Hong Kong (28.7 percent) and Taiwan (6.8 percent).

The SCS attributed the strong visitor flow in the three months to the Chinese Lunar New Year holidays.

Macao, with its famed casino gaming industry, has long been a tourism destination in Asia.

The region, with a population of 480,000, logged a record 18.71 million visitor arrivals in 2005 and the number is predicted by local analysts to exceed 21 million this year.

(Xinhua News Agency April 25, 2006)