Sales of Macao's travel agencies up 33 pct in 2010

Business performance of Macao's travel agencies saw remarkable growth in 2010, with sales and other receipts soaring by 33 percent year-on-year to 4.74 billion patacas (590 million U.S. dollars), according to figures released by the city's Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) on Tuesday. The figures indicated that there were 177 travel agencies operating in 2010, up by eight from 2009, while a total of 3,034 persons were engaged in travel agencies at the end of 2010, an increase of six percent year-on-year. Expenditure of travel agencies totaled 4.55 billion patacas ( 560 million U.S. dollars), up by 34 percent over 2009, according to DSEC. Analyzed by expenditure items, purchase of goods and services, including tickets, package tours and room reservation, reached 3. 92 billion patacas (490 million U.S. dollars), up significantly by 38 percent from 2009.