Macao recorded 7.12 million visitor arrivals in the first four months of 2006, a year-on-year rise of 19.6 percent, according to official statistics issued on Monday.

The figures released by the government-run Statistics and Census Service (SCS) showed that the majority of visitors came in the period from the Chinese mainland (55.7 percent), Hong Kong (31.2 percent) and Taiwan (6.4 percent).

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 18.71million visitor arrivals in 2005 and the number is predicted by local analysts to exceed 21 million this year.

(Xinhua News Agency May 23, 2006)