Casino News

China relaxes Macao visa controls

2007-08-15 16:51:35

Restrictions have been temporarily relaxed in China to allow local visitors to spend their money in Macao.

In recent months, the Chinese authorities have imposed tighter visa controls to prevent people visiting the country's only legal gambling destination.

The restrictions were originally imposed to stop mainlanders working illegally in Hong Kong and Macao.

Deutsche Bank analyst Bill Lerner told TheStreet.com that the reintroduction of combined visas will allow mainland tourists to visit Hong Kong twice and Macao once in a 12-month period.

Last month, it was reported that there had been a 17 per cent fall in the number of Chinese visitors to Macao in June.

However, domestic decline was offset by a 20 per cent rise in the number of international visitors, reports CasioGamblingWeb.com.