The number of Macao's visitor arrivals reached 2.27 million in September, seeing a remarkable year-on-year rise of 29.6 percent, according to official statistics issued Tuesday.

The figures from the government-run Statistics and Census Service (SCS) showed that the majority of the visitors in the month came from the Chinese mainland (53.9 percent), China's Hong Kong (31.4 percent) and Taiwan (5.6 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 help of the booming gaming industry.

(Xinhua News Agency October 23, 2007)