HK protests drive tourists to Macau

Hong Kong

AS Hong Kong protesters were blocking roads and forcing shops to close, a record number of Chinese tourists were occupying the streets of Macau.

More than 845,000 mainland Chinese tourists have poured into the world's largest gambling centre since the China National Day holidays known as Golden Week began on Oct 1, with growth accelerating to 17 per cent over last year. The surge came as the Occupy Central pro-democracy movement pushed Hong Kong into its worst political crisis in decades and cut its rise in holiday week visitors to 6.8 per cent, compared with 18 per cent last year.