China’s Golden Week To Boost Macau Traffic

Golden Week – Chinese semi-annual seven-day national holiday – is set to increase Macau traffic substantially, overcoming 2018 results.

Macau.- One denominator that supports this is the fact that properties were offering more comped rooms and discounts than before.

Although, the logic would assume the offer would attract more people willing to gamble, analysts advised this would not be the case. With the week almost over, results say the traffic is up however, the gambling is not following the same tendency.

Tourists numbers continue to grow compared to last year. The Public Security Police indicated that roughly 163,800 people have entered the island during the beginning of the week. As usual, the majority—140,300—were from mainland China. Resulting in a 10.6% increase compared to the same day last year.

In 2018, around 890,000 tourists visit Macau during the Golden Week. Representing a 7.2% increase over 2017 data. So far this year, the daily average increased 10% comparing to last year’s and reaching 460,900 visitors in total.

That’s a good sign for the city, as more tourists mean more shoppers and more money for the local economy, especially its gambling activity.

In spite of that, Ambrose So Shu Fai, SJM Holdings CEO, analyzed the numbers and asserted that gaming was “a bit worse than expected: we thought more traffic would bring better income but it was not really the case.” He also added that the VIP segment was particularly soft compared to before, which is where casinos usually receive a decent boost.

All in all, although the average hotel occupancy rate is hovering around 90% in Macau, those guests are apparently prioritizing other local options.