Macao recorded 237,461 package tourist arrivals in May, a year-on-year rise of 12.3 percent, according to official statistics issued here Saturday.

The figures from the government-run Statistics and Census Service (SCS) showed that the majority of package visitors came in the month from the Chinese mainland (193,436), Taiwan (14,288) and Hong Kong (6,220).

The SCS statistics also showed that the number of Macao's hotel rooms reached 11,325 at the end of May, up 8.3 percent over the same month of last year.

Hotel guests accounted for 40.5 percent of the total number of tourists in the first five months, according to the statistics.

Analysts attribute the low hotel-room occupancy rate mainly to the hike of the room charges.

(Xinhua News Agency July 17, 2006)