Macao expects more mainland visitors

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 ◆ Macao expects more mainland visitors

Macao, the beautiful city with a multiculture, will expect more Chinese mainland travelers, said visiting Director of the Macao Special Administrative Region Government Tourist Office Manuel Costa Antunes in Beijing.

He said, the mixture of Chinese and Portuguese cultures has become an attraction for mainland visitors. Twelve local South European style churches and courtyards with over 400 years of history have been singled out to apply for the World Culture Heritage.

China National Tourism Administration has just ratified 528 mainland travel agencies to sell Macao tourism products. " It will be more convenient for mainland tourists to visit Macao. I hope Macao will be one of the destinations for mainland tourists traveling overseas during their holidays," Antunes said.

In recent years, Macao has witnessed rapid progress in its tourism industry, aiming to become a scenic spot featuring tourism, gambling, exhibition and recreation.

Statistics indicated, the number of mainland visitors ranked second among travelers in Macao last year. In the first seven months of 2002, some 30 percent of travelers were from the Chinese mainland, up 40.3 percent over the same period of last year.