MACAO - Macao's visitor arrivals in package tours in May increased by 2.2 percent year on year to 582,596, according to figures released by the city's Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) Thursday.

Visitors from the Chinese mainland (431,562), Taiwan (31,321), Hong Kong (25,170) and South Korea (21,055) increased by 2.2 percent, 47.1 percent, 23.6 percent and 43.1 percent respectively, the figures indicated.

However, visitors from Japan (13,724) decreased by 39.4 percent.

In the first five months of 2011, visitor arrivals in package tours decreased by 1.6 percent year on year to 2,534,151, according to the DSEC.

Meanwhile, Macao residents traveling outbound in package tours decreased by 10.1 percent year on year to 17,180 in May, with the Chinese mainland (78.1 percent of the total), Thailand (6.2 percent of the total) and Malaysia (4.4 percent) being the most popular destinations.