MACAO - Macao had welcomed over 33 million visitors in the first 10 months of 2019, said a latest report from Macao Statistics and Census Service.

The tourism industry anticipates that Macao will receive 40 million visitor by the end of 2019.

Before returning to the motherland, Macao had about 7 million visitors in 1999. In 2018, some 35.8 million visitors came to this special administrative region (SAR), which covers an area of about 33 square km and hosts a population of 670,000.

Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes, the chief of Macao Government Tourism Office, told Xinhua reporters that Macao's booming tourism industry has been promoted by the rapid development of the mainland and preferential policies from the central government.