The tourism and gaming industry, a general term for tourism, hotels, catering, retails
and gaming, is a major driving force of Macao’s economy. Gaming by itself is the
largest source of direct tax in Macao.

The fast growing tourism and service industries are the main source of foreign income for Macao. The income generated from tourism has exceeded the total value of exports since 1992. Over the 1990s, the tourism industry in Macao prospered and its development accelerated following the establishment of the SAR Government. Led by gaming, the export of services accounted for 81.1 percent of Macao’s nominal GDP in 2008, up from 49.8 percent in 1999.

Macao is trying to position itself as a global tourism and leisure hub. Its tourism
sector will continue to diversify while consolidating its unique cultural resources.
Regional cooperation will also be strengthened in a bid to promote multi-destination
travel and turn Macao into a premium cultural tourism city.

Macao’s visitor arrivals in half year of 2011 hit 13.25 million. Mainland China was Macao’s largest source of tourists (accounting for 7.48 million visitor arrivals), followed by Hong Kong (3.7 million), Taiwan (0.6million) and Malaysia (0.15million). In half year of 2011, the number of visitor arrivals stood at 13.25 million, up by 8.3 percent compared with the same period of last year.

The local gaming industry's gross revenue in 2010 reached 189.59 billion patacas, 57% increase compared with 2009.In 2010,the government tax revenue of gaming was 68.78 billion which is about 70% of the total tax revenue.In the first 7 months of 2011,the total gaming tax revenue was 7,867.7 million ptacas.In July of 2011,the gaming gross revenue was 24,319.4 million patacas.

2) Regional Cooperation and the Convention Industry
Strengthening external economic cooperation, developing bilateral and multilateral
economic relations and intensifying cooperation among regional economies are the
development strategies of the MSAR Government.

With China’s accession to the WTO and a new series of reforms and liberalisation,
Macao has taken advantage of its unique competitive edge to develop itself into a
services hub within the western region of the Pearl River Delta. Regular regional
exchanges, such as the Pan Pearl River Delta (PPRD) Regional Cooperation and
Development Forum that was launched in 2004, and other irregular exchanges not
only enhance regional collaboration in the PPRD, but also provide an avenue for
cooperation for foreign investors in the Pearl River Delta.

The MSAR Government also continues to promote economic exchanges with
Singapore, Japan, Hong Kong and Taiwan, while giving full play to its traditional links
with the European Union and Romance language-speaking countries, especially
Portuguese-speaking countries, in order to further enhance its role as a bridge between mainland China and these economies.

The signing of the Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA) between the
central government and the MSAR Government in October 2003, plus the staging in
Macao of the first Forum for Economic and Trade Cooperation between China and
Portuguese-speaking Countries as well as the World Chinese Entrepreneurs
Convention (WCEC) serve to accentuate Macao’s function in linking the Pearl River
Delta with Portuguese-speaking countries and overseas Chinese entrepreneurs. All
participating countries of the Forum for Economic and Trade Cooperation between
China and Portuguese-speaking Countries signed the Economic and Trade
Cooperation Action Plan, which established the mode of cooperation between the
participating countries and set up a Permanent Secretariat to the Forum in Macao in
2004. The Second Ministerial Meeting of the Forum was held in Macao in September
2006, during which the Economic and Trade Cooperation Action Plan (2007-2009)
was signed.

After years of efforts, Macao’s role as a services platform for China and Portuguese-speaking countries has gained further recognition and support. Bilateral trade and investments between China and Portuguese-speaking countries are fast growing. In 2008, bilateral trade reached US$770 billion.Bilateral trade in 2009 hit US$77.022 billion, a year-on-year rise of 66.16 percent.

One of the MSAR Government’s top economic priorities is to spur the development of the convention and exhibition industry in a bid to achieve optimal economic
diversification. The Government offers assistance and support to the staging of large
international meetings and events in Macao. It also subsidises the business community in hosting various types of exhibitions and developing business travel. Through different business tourism conventions held around the world, Macao’s profile in the convention and exhibition sector is also promoted.

The annual Macao International Trade and Investment Fair (MIF) has become the biggest international exhibition in the city. It has grown from 23 delegations with 206 booths in 2000 to 48 delegations with 1,074 booths in 2009. Agreements worth 4 billion patacas (US$540 million) were signed in the 2009 MIF, up from US$168 million in 2000.

In the half year of 2011, a total of 533 events were held in Macao,decreasing 161 events (-31%) yearly. The average duration of the events decreased from 2.4 days in 2010 to 2.1 days,attracting 247,663 visitors which was 12% increase.