Macau visitor arrivals up 68.3% in September

Macau has reported 557,842 visitor arrivals for September.

Macau.- The Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) has reported that 557,842 tourists arrived in Macau in September. That’s an increase of 68.3 per cent when compared to the previous month but a drop of 11.3 per cent year-on-year.

According to the DSEC, the average length of stay increased by 0.2 days year-on-year to 1.8 days. Overnight and daytime visitors increased by 0.2 days and 0.1 days, respectively. The number of tourists from mainland China was 502,668, down 13.8 per cent year-on-year. Of those, 188,148 were travelling under the mainland’s Individual Visit Scheme. 

A total of 295,663 tourists came from nine cities in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. Among them, 39.6 per cent were from Zhuhai City, in the neighbouring province of Guangdong. In September, there were 46,179 people from Hong Kong and 6,615 people from Taiwan.

Macau’s total visitor arrivals in the first nine months of the year were just over 4.36 million, down 24.2 per cent year-on-year.

September’s casino gross gaming revenue (GGR) was up 35.4 per cent month-on-month from MOP2.19bn (US$270.8m) to MOP2.96bn (US$366.3m). However, when compared to the previous year, the figure was down 49.6 per cent. 

The Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau (DICJ) reported that Q3 GGR was MOP5.55bn. Macau’s GGR for the first nine months of 2022 combined stands at MOP31.82bn, down 53.1 per cent year-on-year.

MGTO expects package tours from mainland China to resume in November

Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes, director of the Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO) has expressed confidence that package tours from mainland China will resume in phases from early November. She said the Macau government has communicated with Chinese authorities on Covid-19 prevention measures to facilitate the move.

The director of the MGTO said the discussions dealt with measures to be taken in the event of another Covid-19 outbreak in Macau once tourism resumes, including how local authorities will deal with mainland group tourists already in the city.

So far, mainland China is the only place with a basic quarantine-free travel arrangement with Macau. The Macau government has repeatedly said that its Covid-19 prevention policies are in line with those of mainland China.