The global incomes of casinos in Macau grew 16.5% during the first quarter of 2006, compared to the last three months of 2005, according to the city’s Gaming Inspection and Coordination Office.

Altogether, the revenues generated by the 19 casinos that are operating in Macau reached 1,5 billion dollars, most of which came from Chinese tourists who visited the small peninsula from the rest of the country.

According to information provided by the government of this former Portuguese colony, by the end of the first quarter of 2006 there were 1,648 public gambling tables in the city. The benefits coming directly from these tables increased 41,5% in this period, compared to the fourth quarter of 2005, reaching 612 million US dollars.

In Macau there are only just a few privately owned casinos, such as the Macau’s Gaming Society, managed by the magnate Stanley Ho, and the North American Wynn Resorts and Venetian.