Macau’s visitor arrivals surged by 6.5% year-on-year to more than 960,000 during Chinese New Year, including around 710,000 from mainland China, according to preliminary statistics released by the Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO).
The figures cover the seven days of Spring Festival Golden Week from 15 to 21 February, with the MGTO stating that arrivals were higher than expected due to “different favorable factors” including the opening of MGM Cotai on 13 February.
In total, visitation from Greater China markets rose 6.9% to 910,000 visitors, accounting for 94.6% of visitor arrivals, while those from mainland China grew by 12.3% and accounted for 74.3% of arrivals. Arrivals from Hong Kong and Taiwan fell by 9.4% and 6.7% respectively.
Macau’s impressive visitor numbers saw hotels and guesthouses register an average occupancy rate of 94.5% during Golden Week, roughly the same as in 2017. Five star hotels enjoyed a 0.4% occupancy increase to 95.9% with four star hotels up 1.6% to 94.4%.
The average room rate charged also rose by 5.9% to MOP$1,952. The rate at five star hotels grew 5.1% to MOP$2,195 and at four star hotels by 7.6% to MOP$1,637.