MACAO-- Macao's visitor arrivals in package tours in July soared by 46.1 percent year-on-year to 670,664, according to figures released by the city's Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) Wednesday.

Visitors from the Chinese mainland (489,503), Taiwan (46,776), South Korea (31,066) and Hong Kong (28,839) increased by 51.2 percent, 90.8 percent, 151.1 percent and 19.3 percent, respectively, the figures indicated.

However, visitors from Japan (14,879) decreased by 38.2 percent.

In the first seven months of 2011, visitor arrivals in package tours increased by 7.7 percent year-on-year to 3,795,979, according to the DSEC.

Meanwhile, Macao residents traveling outbound in package tours increased by 5.3 percent year-on-year to 26,427 in July, with the Chinese mainland (72.3 percent of the total), Thailand (7.1 percent of the total) and Malaysia (five percent) being the most popular destinations.