Tourism growth continues to be robust in Macau despite hurdles such as China's proposed visa tightening policy and the United States subprime crisis. The region's market leader in hotel investment and advisory services, Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels (JLLH) identified Macau as one of the key growth markets in Asia over the next five years. The firm states that Macau will benefit from intra-regional travel which will be the key driver for growth in the region.
Based on JLLH Digest Asia 2008, the city will continue to experience strong growth in its tourism and hotel industry and market sentiment remains strong. A record 30.6 million international visitor arrivals is expected this year, a 13.3 per cent increase on last year. A compound annual growth rate of 11.6 per cent is also foreseen in inbound travellers between this year and 2010.