Macao logged a total of 261,349 visitor arrivals in package tours in July 2009, decreasing notably by 35.7 percent over the same period of last year, according to the figures released on Friday by the city's Statistics and Census Service (DSEC).

Of the visitor arrivals, those from the Chinese mainland, Taiwan and Japan dropped by 42.2 percent, 20.4 percent and 7.1 percent respectively in July, while visitors from Hong Kong increased by 7.1 percent, the figures showed.

In the first seven months of 2009, visitor arrivals in package tours decreased by 10.1 percent year-on-year to 2.54 million.

Meanwhile, the number of Macao residents traveling outbound in package tours also dropped by 25.1 percent year-on-year to 14,826 in July, with the Chinese mainland being the most popular tour itinerary.

Between January and July, local residents traveling outbound in package tours decreased by 15.8 percent year-on-year to 106,464, according to the DSEC.

(Xinhua News Agency September 12, 2009)