If there ever is such a thing as having too many tourists visiting a given location, then Macau is in for a real problem. Last year, the only place in China where casino gambling is allowed took in a record 31.5 million visitors, two-thirds of which are made up of visitors from the mainland. More importantly, that number is expected to increase by 5% this year.

The combination oh the high visitation numbers and the sheer size of the territory has become a point of concern for the government, so much so that officials are now looking at ways to stem the influx of tourists visiting Macau. Speaking to a local radio show, Macau’s Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture Alexi Tam Chon Weng indicated that the government is reviewing the way it distributes visas to foreigners coming into the country, specifically the Individual Visit Scheme that’s popular among tourists from the mainland.

If the government can’t find a solution to fix the issue of overcrowding without preventing tourists from coming into the territory, that will probably be the next logical step, even if it seems to fly counter to attempts by other countries to improve their own tourism numbers.

But according to Tam, the issue in Macau is real. “If Macau is so crowded that people cannot even get on a bus or cannot find a restaurant for a meal, I believe even the tourists would not like to come,” he told reporters.

While he does make some valid points, cutting down the number of tourists visiting Macau or at least putting a cap on visitors are ideas that not everybody is on board with.

Japanese brokerage Nomura, for one, believes that putting a cap to the number of mainland tourists coming to Macau will have a significant effect on the casino industry and that’s not something the industry wants to see in a time where it’s already in the middle of the most serious revenue slump in history.

“The cap proposal confirms our view that more tightening policies will be issued,” analysts Stella Xing, Wendy Liu and Harry Curtis wrote in a note issued on Tuesday. “We remain cautious and believe that the Macau casino sector has not yet bottomed out.”