A soaring number of tourists took advantage of Macao's spring-like scenery and sound weather to visit the special administrative region (SAR) in March.

Latest figures released by the Statistics and Census Services show that Macao received 189,100 tourists in March, representing a sharp increase of 64.5 percent on an annual basis.

China's inland was the largest tourist source for Macao, bringing 111,900 tourists. Other tourist groups were mainly from Taiwan, Japan and Hong Kong.

In the first quarter of this year, group tourists to Macao totaled 517,900, up 60.5 percent.

On the other hand, 14,700 Macao residents, out of a population of roughly 440,000, traveled to other places in tour groups in March, up 1.3 percent.

Their favorite destinations include China's inland, Thailand and Taiwan.

( People's Daily May 12, 2002)