Macau’s hotel and integrated resort operators are feeling optimistic about the upcoming “May Day” Golden Week holiday, with hotel occupancy rates expected to reach close to 90% according to industry experts.
The May Day Golden Week is a traditional holiday in China, with the mainland set to enjoy a seven-day break from 1 to 7 May.
President of the Macau Travel Industry Council, Andy Wu, told IAG that the holiday is likely to be the busiest week in Macau since the COVID-19 pandemic.
“More than half of the hotels, especially those owned by the six concessionaires, are fully booked and the average occupancy rate is quite high,” he said, adding that visitor arrivals are expected to exceed the 98,000 who arrived in Macau last Saturday – the highest single day tally since early 2020.
“The number of booked tours to Macau is now satisfactory, and I believe that the number of arrivals will further increase. It should return to pre-pandemic levels during Golden Week.”
According to a report by CLSA, 15 of 27 hotels surveyed are fully booked during Golden Week, while investment bank Morgan Stanley found similar rates.
“17 out of 25 hotels surveyed have three or more days (out of 10 surveyed days) fully booked,” wrote Morgan Stanley analysts Praveen Choudhary and Gareth Leung in a note.
“This level of occupancy should be better than the 2023 Chinese New Year considering more rooms are in operation this time [although] the occupancy level should remain below the 2019 May Golden Week as some rooms are still being made unavailable amidst a labor shortage.”
According to Morgan Stanley, Melco’s Morpheus at City of Dreams and SJM’s Grand Lisboa Palace are among the hotels to be fully booked out for Golden Week while Sands China’s Sheraton, St Regis and Londoner are looking significantly better in terms of occupancy rates than during CNY.
The analysts added that, “The ADR (average daily rate) of [Melco’s] Studio City is much higher vs the 2023 CNY, but bookings seem to be lower. This could be due to new rooms in Epic Tower (part of Studio City Phase 2) launching on 6 April alongside its indoor water park. It will open an outdoor water park on 28 April, which may help.”
