Expert estimates Macau visitor numbers could reach record in 2025
The director of the Institute for the Study of Commercial Gaming at the University of Macau says visitor numbers could surpass pre-pandemic levels.
Macau.- The director of the Institute for the Study of Commercial Gaming at the University of Macau, Davis Fong, has said that Macau visitor numbers could surpass pre-pandemic levels this year. In an interview with Macao Daily News, he said visitor arrivals could exceed the record of 39 million seen in 2019.
Fong noted that growth in non-gaming spending was outpacing that of gaming. He also highlighted the long-term development of infrastructure, including new hotel facilities and non-gaming attractions.
Macau recorded nearly 23 million visitors in the first seven months of 2025, with 3.45 million arrivals in July. Occupancy rates for the first half of this year were 89 per cent. At the beginning of the year, the MGTO projected that annual visitor arrivals for 2025 would reach between 38 and 39 million.
Last week, the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau (DICJ) reported that Macau’s gross gaming revenue (GGR) for July was MOP22.13bn (US$2.73bn). That’s an increase of 19 per cent in year-on-year terms and a 5 per cent rise compared to June’s MOP21.06bn (US$2.60bn). It was the best monthly performance since January 2020, just before the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic.
