• Macao welcomed 980 thousand visitors during the Golden Week Holiday this year
  • Tourist police diverts visitors to other attractions (Photo courtesy of Public Security Police Force)

Visitor Arrivals Increase 11.5 per cent in Golden Week

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According to provisional statistics, Macao welcomed more than 980 thousand visitors during the 1st October Golden Week (1st to 7th October) of Mainland China, registering a year-on-year rise of 11.5 per cent. Among the visitors, 947 thousand came from the Greater China markets, which constitutes 96.1 per cent of total visitor arrivals, registering an increase of 13 per cent from last year. Among them, the number of Mainland visitors rose by 9.4 per cent to reach 798 thousand, which constitutes 81.1 per cent of total visitor arrivals. Visitor arrivals from Hong Kong rose by 43.2 per cent to 136 thousand, while visitor arrivals from Taiwan region dropped by 4.7 per cent to 12000. As for international visitor markets, the number of visitors totalled 38000, which is 16.2 per cent down compared to the number of last year.

Slight decline in hotel room prices with rise in average occupancy

According to figures provided by industry operators, the number of local hotels and guesthouses in operation has reached a total of 41015 rooms, while the average occupancy rate was 94 per cent during the Golden Week with an increase of 2 percentage points. In which, the average occupancy rate of 5-star hotels was 95.2 per cent, 1.2 percentage points higher than last year. The average occupancy rate of 4-star hotels was 92.6 per cent, with an increase of 2.5 percentage points. The average occupancy rate of 3-star hotels was 94.7 per cent, 3.6 percentage points higher than last year. The average occupancy rate of 2-star hotels was 82.4 per cent with an increase of 9.5 percentage points, whereas the average occupancy rate of guesthouses dropped 2.7 percentage points to 75.6 per cent.

Meanwhile, the average rate of hotel room (including both hotels and guesthouses) in Macao was about MOP1842.3 during the Golden Week, with a year-on-year decline of 5.1 per cent. The average room rates of 5-star and 4-star hotels were MOP2235.5 and MOP1195.4, which were 1.5 per cent and 22.7 per cent lower than last year respectively. The average room rates of 3-star and 2-star hotels were around MOP1211.1 and MOP941.8, respectively, with a decrease of 3.8 per cent and 4 per cent. The average room rate of local guesthouses was approximately MOP700.5, which is 6.7 per cent lower than last year.

Smart application for visitor flows helped travellers, and patrol enhanced during the peak period

During the Golden Week, Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO) sent mobile text message to advise visitors to pay attention to the visitor flows at major attractions in Macao by using the ‘smart application for visitor flows’, which facilitate visitors to make suitable itinerary arrangements and at the same time divert visitors to other attractions during peak hours of visitor flows. MGTO also arranged personnel to provide visitors with tourism information and guidance at ten visiting spots to channel visitor flows so as to minimise their impact on traffic conditions and neighbourhoods near the tourist sites.

In addition, MGTO is currently collecting statistical figures of visitor flows through devices of the Internet of Things (IoT) in the vicinity from Senado Square to the Ruins of St. Paul’s, to optimise the forecast of visitor flows at tourist attractions.

During the Golden Week, MGTO conducted 101 inspections at major ports of entry and tourist attractions. There is no sign of irregularities of unlicensed tour guides discovered during the inspections. Meanwhile, MGTO also carried out six joint actions against illegal accommodation with the Public Security Police Force and sealed three apartments allegedly operated as illegal accommodation.

For statistics about visitation to Macao during the Golden Week, please visit MGTO’s online platform Macao Tourism Data plus: http://dataplus.macaotourism.gov.mo.