highlighted by Mellen and Okada(2005), the predicted tourism growth is contingent on several factors, such as the Macao visitor being less reliant on hardcore gamblers and greater dominance by convention and business tourists; the rapidly growing Chinese economy , which in turn is creating a new middle class with discretionary income for such activities as traveling, gambling, and shopping; and the continual growth of visitors under the Individual Visitation Scheme (IVS) implemented in 2003 after SARS, allowing certain Mainland China visitors to travel individually. Prior to this, travelers from China were only permitted to travel to Macao and Hong Kong in groups.