Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR) logged a total of 1.23 million border crossings by visitors in the first six days of the Chinese New Year, which decreased by five percent over the same period of last year, the Macao Post Daily reported on Monday.

The decrease in the number of visitors was attributable to the restrictions, imposed by the Chinese mainland authorities, on individual travel permits for trips to Macao and the regional impact of the global financial crisis, the daily quoted Ku Keng Hin, a spokesman of the SAR's Public Security Police (PSP), as saying. The official Chinese New Year holiday lasted from Feb. 25 to 31.

Statistics showed that the number of border crossings (comprising visitors and locals) for the first six days of the Chinese New Year in 2008 stood at 1.94 million, dropping by 1.5 percent year-on-year. Last year, the Chinese New Year fell on the second week of February.

Special Report: Spring Festival Special 2009