Macau occupancy rate down 25.3% in August

The Macau Statistics and Census Bureau has reported that the average occupancy rate at Macau hotels was down 25.3 per cent month-on-month in August.

Macau.- The Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) has reported that the average hotel occupancy rate reached 38.4 per cent in August, down 25.3 per cent when compared to July. Five-star hotels had the most reduced normal inhabitance rate, with an occupancy rate of just 32.6 per cent. Four-star hotels had a 45.2 per cent occupancy rate. 

However, when compared to the previous year, the occupancy rate was up 25.1 per cent. To date, the highest average hotel occupancy rate of the year was in May, when Macau also saw its highest GGR for the year to date thanks to the Labour Day break. 

Macau’s Public Security Police reported that 165,500 tourists came to Macau in May. The average occupancy rate reached 62.1 per cent while in June it declined to 45.3 per cent, partly due to the rise in Covid-19 cases in Guangdong province.

Macau arrivals plummet after new Covid-19 cases

Arrivals to Macau fell by 70 per cent over the weekend as Macau announced the detection of local Covid-19 cases and imposed countermeasures similar to those imposed in August.

A new mass testing for Covid-19 is being carried out and is expected to be faster than the last one. As of Monday, almost 607,000 tests had been completed and no new cases were detected.

However, analysts at Bernstein Research predict that October’s Golden Week will now be weaker than expected. They expect the city to see a recovery later in the month and into November.

They added: “Longer term, Individual Visit Scheme eVisa, group visa restart, and Hong Kong travel resumption will be necessary to drive gross gaming revenue (GGR) upwards.”

They believe Macau is unlikely to remove its travel restrictions for people coming from places beyond mainland China before 2022.