Macao has spared no effort in promoting tourism industry among Asian nations to diversify the city's source markets, an official press release said Saturday.

The release issued by the Macao Government Tourist Office (MGTO) disclosed that the Southeast Asian market saw a year-on-year growth of 68.92 percent in the first half of the year.

The majority of the tourists coming to Macao are from the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong.

Macao has recently opened direct air flights to the South Asian nations and regions including Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines and China's Taiwan Province, said the press release.

The city has been diversifying its tourism products covering sections of culture, convention and exhibition, leisure, entertainment, characteristic cuisine and retail, Manual Costa Antunes, director of the MGTO, was cited as saying by the release.

The visitor arrivals in the city with a population of 580,000 exceeded 12 million in the first six months, seeing a year-on-year increase of 21.28 percent, according to the release.

(Xinhua News Agency August 20, 2007)