BEIJING, July 17 -- The central government will continue to support Macao in becoming a world tourism and leisure destination, the China Daily reported Wednesday.

Macao's tourism sector has a promising future, as domestic visits to the region continue to rise, said Luo Shugang, minister of culture and tourism, during a meeting with a delegation from the Macao Special Administrative Region on Tuesday.

According to the newspaper, in the first half of 2019, Chinese mainland travelers made more than 12 million visits to Macao, a 22.7 percent year-on-year increase. In 2018, a total of 25.26 million visits to the region were made.

Macao has made great progress in economy and tourism development since returning to the motherland in 1999, as well as received great support from the central government and tourism professionals, said Pansy Ho Chiu-king, general secretary of the Global Tourism Economy Forum and head of the delegation.

She said that Macao would like to deepen cooperation with the mainland in tourism-related education, conference and exhibition planning, talent exchanges and marine tourism.

The report quoted Luo as saying that future comprehensive and deepened cooperation in culture and tourism exchanges, as well as fostering talent, are being encouraged.