Macau's casino sector has been expanding rapidly, particularly targeting mainland Chinese gamblers. The novelty and under‐researched nature of this market is a challenge for Macau's casino and destination marketers. This study explores the characteristics of the mainland market and compares this with the second placed and more mature Hong Kong market. The profiling of visitors from Macau's main source markets including demographic, region of origin, trip behaviour and motivation characteristics provides insights into the future success of the destination. Adaption theory is used to explain the implications of differences between Gambling and Non‐Gambling visitors from the two source markets. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.