The number of visitors arriving in Macau surged by more than 1,400% quarter-to-quarter in the three months to 30 September 2020, with 750,024 arrivals according to updated figures released by the Statistics and Census Service Bureau.
The improved numbers, up from around 50,000 arrivals in the second quarter – which included a low of just 11,041 arrivals in April – 3Q20 was boosted by the return of the Individual Visit Scheme for residents of Zhuhai from 12 August and all of Guangdong Province from 26 August.
IVS for all of mainland China wasn’t reinstated until 23 September, but has since seen visitor numbers climb to over 20,000 per day in November.
Of the 750,024 arrivals in 3Q20, over 679,000 were from mainland China of which 106,212 were under IVS visas. Chinese authorities continue to prohibit any outbound package tours by far, with only 233 visitors joining local tours in Macau.
While the numbers were vastly improved over the second quarter, they were still down 92.4% over the same period in 2019.
Hotel occupancy rates were also down 76.2% year-on-year to just 14.2% in the third quarter. With most four and five-star hotels offering special staycation packages for locals, guests from Macau comprised 48.7% of room nights.
In the first three quarters of 2020, total visitor arrivals fell by 86.7% year-on-year to just over 4 million.
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