Macau Received More Tourists Than Hong Kong In 2008

According to Hong Kong's HKNet, Macau received more than 30 million tourists in 2008 and its tourist numbers exceeded those of Hong Kong for the first time.

HKNet reported that Donald Tsang Yam-kuen, chief executive of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, congratulated Macau on its achievement in tourism while he also stated that Macau's tourism prosperity would have a positive effect on the whole region of Hong Kong, Macau, and the Chinese mainland province of Guangdong since their tourism resources are complementary to one another.

Donald Tsang Yam-kuen said the most important thing for Hong Kong is not to be the Number One, but to know the fact that tourism accounts for less than 3% of its GDP, while that percentage of Macau is very large. He said that he would consider setting up a tourism board to be responsible for planning and making tourism policies though he had no idea whether the proposal would be agreed by Hong Kong's Legislative Council.