Gaming, tourism boom spurs an influx of foreigners A rising number of foreigners living in Macau, coupled with increasing foreign investment in the tourism and gaming sectors, has prompted some countries to appoint representatives to serve their citizens in the city. Estimating that 1,000 US citizens now live in Macau, the United States consulate in Hong Kong has appointed a warden. As the new warden, Reggie Martin, who is manager at the Westin Resort Macau, provides American citizens and travellers with information on visas, voting and security warnings. 'American companies like the Venetian, MGM and Wynn Resorts are going to build huge resorts. At the management level they will probably bring in Americans.' Compared with the population of 450,000, the expatriate community in the former Portuguese enclave is still small. In the first six months of this year, an average of 7,119 US nationals and 3,463 British nationals per month visited Macau - an insignificant percentage compared with the monthly average of 746,441 mainland visitors. But consulates in Hong Kong, including those of the US, Britain, Australia, Canada and France, all expect the number of foreigners living in Macau to creep up. Britain, with an estimated 500 citizens living in Macau, is expecting more British companies to do business there or use Macau as a stepping stone into the mainland. 'Macau's future is extremely exciting with all the new gaming infrastructure and tourism facilities being developed,' said Glenn McCartney, appointed as British honorary consul this spring. Mr McCartney teaches at the Institute for Tourism Studies in Macau. 'We will be attracting even more British people who want to come to Macau for a holiday as well as to live and invest here.' Other expatriate communities are well established in Macau. The Macau Water Supply Company chief executive and an executive director of Macau's electricity company, Companhia de Electricidade de Macau, are both French, among an estimated 100 to 120 French citizens living in the city. Wan Wai-lun, spokesman for the Australian consulate in Hong Kong, estimated there were about 200 to 250 Australian citizens in Macau. 'From our observations, the numbers are definitely increasing.'