In the fresh beginning of the New Year of the Pig, Macau Government Tourist Office (MGTO) held a spring luncheon in Hong Kong today, to thank the travel trade partners and media friends for their support in promoting Macau tourism.

Director of MGTO, Mr. João Manuel Costa Antunes, and Deputy Director, Ms. Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes, led the MGTO delegation to welcome over 100 guests at Island Shangri-La HK. Representatives from local counterparts including Tourism Commission, HK Tourism Board, Asia Tourism Exchange Centre Ltd., SKAL International (HK), Travel Industry Council of HK, HK Hotels Association, The Federation of HK Hotel Owners and The Society of Golden Keys of HK, etc., also joined the luncheon.

During his welcoming speech, Mr. Antunes expressed his gratitude to HK travel and media sector for bringing another fruitful year to Macau in 2006, when visitor arrivals in the previous year reached an all-time record of 21.99 million, representing a surge of 17% over year 2005. Hong Kong remained as the second largest source market with a remarkable year-on-year increase of 23%, representing 6.94 million arrivals. Latest statistics also shows that there were over 760,000 visitors coming to Macau on the first seven days of the New Year of the Pig, a growth of 18% over the same period last year.

Macau tourism is stepping into the New Year with a series of targeted development focuses. This year, MGTO will continue to employ the slogan "Macau: a World of Difference, the Difference is Macau" (繽紛