Information from the Statistics and Census Service indicated that the number of visitor and non-resident arrivals totalled 2,245,660 in February 2009. Visitor arrivals were 1,652,377, down by 17.3% compared with February 2008 when the Lunar New Year was celebrated.

Analysed by place of residence, visitors came from Mainland China was 827,804 (50.1% of total visitor arrivals), down by 22.0% year-on-year, with those travelling to Macao under the Individual Visit Scheme fell significantly by 33.3% to 460,960. Visitors from Hong Kong (540,668) and Taiwan, China (91,218) decreased by 12.3% and 12.2% respectively, while those from Thailand (21,480) and Japan (35,265) surged by 76.1% and 36.9%. Same-day visitors (889,308) accounted for 53.8% of the total visitor arrivals, with 446,325 coming from Mainland China.

The cumulative visitor arrivals totalled 3,565,721 in the first two months of 2009, down by 8.5% year-on-year. Visitors from Mainland China (1,777,680) and Taiwan, China (194,622) decreased by 15.8% and 7.9% respectively, while those from Hong Kong (1,185,994) went up by 6.7%. Same-day visitors accounted for 54.0% of the total visitor arrivals, at 1,924,008.

Analysed by mode of transport, visitor arrivals by sea were 1,485,458 in the first two months of 2009, up slightly by 0.9% year-on-year. Visitor arrivals at the Outer Harbour registered a decrease of 25.7% to 1,006,118, with 57.9% from Hong Kong and 20.8% from Mainland China. Visitor arrivals at the Provisional Ferry Terminal in Taipa soared by 928.5% to 422,544 in the first two months of 2009.

Visitor arrivals by land dropped by 14.6% year-on-year to 1,848,442 in the first two months of 2009; visitor arrivals through the Border Gate totalled 1,717,443 and the majority were visitors from Mainland China (77.0%) and Hong Kong (15.8%).

Visitor arrivals by air went down by 11.5% to 231,821 in the first two months of 2009. Visitors arriving at the Macao International Airport decreased by 12.2% to 226,781, with the majority coming from Taiwan, China (38.8%), Mainland China (24.9%) and Thailand (8.0%).