• Visitor arrivals topped 8.54 million in the first quarter of 2018
  • More expensive hotel accommodation, restaurant meals and local food products increased TPI in the first quarter of 2018

Macao Tourism Figures for Q1 2018

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Macao SAR Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) has announced figures on tourism for the first quarter of 2018, in which visitor arrivals reached 8.54 million and visitors on package tours totalled 2.144 million, up 8.6 per cent and 23.8 per cent, respectively, year-on-year. Meanwhile, guests of hotels and guesthouses hit 3.352 million, increasing 9.2 per cent year on year. The Tourist Price Index (TPI) for the first quarter of 2018 increased 6.15 per cent year-on-year to 136.94.

Overnight visitors increase 10.2 per cent

In the first quarter of 2018, visitor arrivals totalled 8545713, in which overnight visitors and same day visitors increased 10.2 per cent and seven per cent, respectively, year-on-year. The average length of stay of visitors held steady year-on-year at 1.2 days, with that of same-day visitors remaining at 0.2 days and that of overnight visitors rising by 0.1 days to 2.2 days.

Visitors from Mainland China and the Republic of Korea went up by 13.4 per cent and 4.6 per cent, respectively, year-on-year, while those from the United States, Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom also recorded year-on-year growth. Visitors from Hong Kong and Taiwan region, however, dipped 2.8 per cent and 0.9 per cent, respectively.

Hotel and guesthouse occupancy rate reaches 88.8 per cent

Some 115 hotels and guesthouses were operating at the end of March 2018, a year-on-year increase of seven. The number of guestrooms grew by 6.4 per cent year-on-year to 39 thousand, with 5-star hotel rooms increasing by 8.5 per cent to 24 thousand, accounting for 61.2 per cent of the total.

The average occupancy rate of hotels and guesthouses rose by 5.3 percentage points to 88.8 per cent. The average length of stay of guests went up by 0.1 nights year-on-year to 1.5 nights. Visitor-guests accounted for 73 per cent of total overnight visitors, down 0.6 per cent year-on-year.

TPI for the first quarter of 2018 posted an increase on account of higher charges for hotel accommodation and restaurant services, as well as dearer prices for local food products. Among the various sections of goods and services, the price index of Accommodation (+19.33 per cent) registered the highest increase, followed by Transport and Communications (+6.57 per cent) and Food, Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco (+4.53 per cent).


More visitor arrivals for Labour Day holiday

According to records provided by the Public Security Police Force (PSP) Macao registered over 391 thousand visitor arrivals (non-resident employees and students excluded) throughout Mainland China's 1st May Labour Day holiday period (29th April to 1st May), a rise of 4.7 per cent over the corresponding three-day holiday of last year.

Over 361 thousand visitors came from the Greater China markets, up 7.6 per cent in total. Visitor arrivals from Mainland China grew by 16.1 per cent whilst the numbers of visitors from Hong Kong and Taiwan region dropped 24.1 per cent and 19.5 per cent, respectively. Other markets registered a fall of 21 per cent.

Industry figures reveal that hotel establishments (guesthouses and hotels) in Macao registered an average occupancy rate of 94.3 per cent during the 1st May Labour Day holiday, a slight decrease of 0.2 percentage points from last year. The average room rate fell four per cent to approximately MOP1612.5.

MIA posts 20 per cent increase in Q1 2018 passengers

In the first quarter of 2018, Macau International Airport (MIA) handled more than 2 million passengers to represent year-on-year growth of 20 per cent. During the first quarter of 2018, the daily average traffic of MIA reached 22 thousand passengers and 160 flight movements, while flight movements at MIA recorded a year-on-year increase of 14 per cent to over 15 thousand.

With the continuous increase of routes and load factor accompanied by new airlines entering the market, Mainland China, Southeast Asia and Taiwan region markets recorded increases of 33 per cent, 19 per cent and 7 per cent, respectively, vis-à-vis the same period of last year.