Macau  - Gambling revenue in Macau dropped 12.2 per cent to 25.6 billion Macau patacas (3.2 billion dollars) in the second quarter of 2009 compared with a year earlier, the territory's gaming authority said Monday.

The Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau said revenue from Macau's 32 casinos dropped to 25.4 billion patacas in the second quarter, down around 2 per cent compared the first quarter.

The bureau said there were also falls in revenues from lotteries and horse racing.

Casinos accounted for 51.4 billion patacas out of 51.9 billion patacas in gross revenue from all gambling activities in the first half of 2009.

The regulator gave no reason for the drop in revenue. But Macau, a former Portuguese colony which has been a special administrative region of China since December 1999, has seen a drop in visitors following the global economic recession and tougher visa controls on residents of mainland China.

The total number of visitors fell 10.6 per cent to 8.9 million people in the first five months of this year year-on-year, Macao's tourism office said.

But the number of travellers from China fell 16.9 per cent between January and May to 4.4 million visitors. (dpa)