MACAO -- The total spending of visitors to Macao (excluding gaming expenses) reached 13.9 billion patacas ($1.74 billion) in the second quarter of 2013, up 23 percent year-on-year, according to the latest figures released by the city's Statistics and Census Service.

This is translated to a per-capita spending of 1,973 ($247) patacas, an increase of 15 percent over a year earlier, the figures indicated.

Analyzed by place of residence, visitors from the Chinese mainland had the highest per-capita spending of 2,511 patacas ($314. 38), and spending of those traveling under the Individual Visit Scheme reached 2,819 patacas ($352.94) . Per-capita spending of visitors from Singapore amounted to 1,719 patacas ($215.22), while Australian visitors had the highest per-capita spending among long-haul visitors, at 1,261 patacas ($157.88).

Meanwhile, per-capita spending of tourists (overnight visitors) increased by 17 percent year-on-year to 3,396 patacas ($425.18), and that of same-day visitors rose by 3 percent to 614 patacas ($76.87).

Visitors spent mostly on shopping (49 percent), accommodation ( 24 percent) and food and beverage (19 percent).

According to the result of the Visitors' Comments Survey, about 93 percent and 92 percent of the visitors were satisfied with the services rendered by hotels and travel agencies. However, 7 percent of the visitor-users considered that public transport services should be improved, and 7 percent commented that aspects of tourist attractions were inadequate.