MACAO - Macao's visitor arrivals in package tours in September rose by 21.9 percent year-on-year to 749,496, according to figures released by the city's Statistics and Census Service Wednesday.

Visitors from the Chinese mainland (538,178), Taiwan (69,911), South Korea (35,093) and Japan (21,798) increased by 23.7 percent, 50.8 percent, 33.9 percent and 14.2 percent respectively, the figures indicated.

In the first nine months of 2012, visitor arrivals in package tours increased by 24.5 percent year on year to 6,571,468, accounting for 31.5 percent of total visitor arrivals, according to the DSEC.

Meanwhile, Macao residents traveling outbound in package tours soared by 107.6 percent year-on-year to 32,373 in September 2012, with the Chinese mainland (82.3 percent of the total), Taiwan (4.1 percent of the total) and South Korea (3.8 percent) being the most popular destinations.