A total of 450,000 visitors from Malaysia came to Macao for the whole of last year, an increase of 12.28 percent over 2007, the Macao Special Administrative Region ( SAR) Government Tourist Office (MGTO) said on Thursday.

Malaysia has become Macao's fourth visitor generating market, and, currently, Malaysia Airlines flies several times every week between Macao and Kuala Lumpur, while AirAsia provides 21 flight services per week between the two places, according to the MGTO.

To further boost the ties between the two places, the MGTO has launched the Celebrate Macao Package as the promotional activities to celebrate the 10th Anniversary of the Establishment of the Macao Special Administrative Region.

With the SAR's Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture, Chui Sai On, officiating the opening ceremony on Thursday, Malaysia became the first station to launch the global series of promotional activities to celebrate the 10th Anniversary of the Establishment of the Macao SAR, the MGTO said.

MGTO also said that it will soon roll out a series of promotional activities in major source markets all around the world after the launch in Malaysia.

(Xinhua News Agency February 27, 2009)