A 90-strong international media group started its Macao tour on Monday, the region's Tourism Office said.

The team is comprised of media workers from the Chinese mainland, China's Taiwan and Hong Kong, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, India, the Philippines, the United States, Britain and Australia, officials from the Tourism Office told Xinhua.

The team, during its five-day stay, is to visit scores of cultural sites including the Mount Fortress, the Ruins of St. Paul's and the Ma Temple, according to the schedule issued by the Tourism Office.

The media tour is hopefully to help promote the Historic Center, which gained the entry into the World Heritage List in 2005, local analysts said.

Macao, with the cultural combination of both western and Chinese styles, has long been a tourism destination in Asia.

The region, with a population of some 480,000, boasted a record18.4 million visitor arrivals in 2005.

(Xinhua News Agency April 18, 2006)