Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR) welcomed 39.4 million visitors in 2019, showing a year-on-year increase of 10.1 percent, the Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTC) said on Wednesday.

Photos: CGTN

The total number includes around 20.7 million same-day visitors and 18.6 million overnight visitors, respectively up 20 percent and 0.8 percent than last year. More than 13.9 million tourists stayed at the local hotels with the average hotel occupancy rate reaching 90 percent.

The Chinese Mainland, Hong Kong and Taiwan are the top three ranking sources of tourists. Meanwhile, the number of visitors from South Korea exceeded 740,000, making it the largest international source market for visitors.

The number of visitor arrivals in Macao Special Administrative Region has increased by 32.4 million in the past 20 years.

Since the return of Macao to the motherland in 1999, it has witnessed rapid economic growth over the last 20 years, among which its tourism and entertainment industries have accounted for about 70 percent of the entire economic structure, according to Chen Shouxin, chairman of the Macao Monetary Authority.

What's more, the construction of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge has contributed to the growing number of travelers since it opened in October 2018. As a traffic hinge on the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, it has boosted regional tourism.