The Macao special administrative region (SAR) received 22 million, or 17 percent more tourists in 2006, as the city improves its image from just a gaming center to a comprehensive tourist destination.

"The year 2006 was a fruitful year for Macao tourism industry," Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture Chui Sai-on told reporters in Macao yesterday.

The promotion acitivities surrounding Macao's UNESCO World Heritage scenic spots The Historic Centre of Macao helped attract more tourists in 2006, Chui said.

Mainlanders continued to be the largest group of tourists to this 28-square-meter, half-a-million enclave in the past year, accounting for more than 50 percent, or 12 million in number.

Hong Kong and Taiwan followed with 6.94 million and 1.43 million tourists, respectively.

Looking ahead, officials believed the city's tourism will prosper and more tourists will come to Macao, thanks to the expansion of the Individual Travel Scheme (ITS).

ITS, which makes mainlanders convenient to tour the SAR, has been expanded to the capitals of 5 more provinces Hebei, Jilin, Anhui, Henan and Hubei, since January 1. Now the number of ITS cities is 49, with a combined population of 260 million.

"We can therefore foresee that the mainland will continue to be the source market with the greatest growth potential and the most important source of visitors for Macao," said Chui.

And with more tourism facilities to be put into use this year, Macao is primed to receive more tourists this year, said Joao Manuel Costa Antunes, director of Macao Government Tourist Office (MGTO).

By the end of 2006, the city has 83 hotels with 13,000 rooms. A total of 1,233 licensed tour guides served tourists in Macao.

MGTO will attach great importance to improving the service quality in 2007, Antunes said.

The office is committed to tackling issues such as "zero-fee tours" and unlicensed guesthouses and will promote "honest tour" and the "Macao Tourism Awareness Campaign".

Tourist service quality hit newspaper headlines last year after a "zero-fee" tour group from Northwest China's Qinghai Province was abandoned by their angry local guide for over an hour in Hong Kong, because they had not bought enough from shops they were taken to.

A zero-fee tour is cut-rate package that charges the tourists less than the basic costs but makes money via commissions from shops.