Coronavirus sees Macau visitor numbers almost half during Golden Week

During the first two days of Golden Week, Macau visitor numbers were down 49.9% year-on-year

Macau.- Wuhan’s coronavirus has been blamed for a dramatic drop in Macau visitor numbers during the first two days of Golden Week, with official numbers showing a 49.9% year-on-year decline.

According to the Macau Government Tourism Office, total visitor arrivals on Friday and Saturday were 112,936, with 55,098 entering the SAR on the first day of the Chinese New Year holiday period. This represents a 34.6% decrease from the 84,777 recorded on day one in 2019. Day two visitor numbers fell 59.0% from 141,306 to 57,838 during the same period.

Mainland Chinese visitation fell at a greater rate than the average, down 55% to 66,102 including a 64.7% year-on-year decline in Saturday visitor numbers to 33,159.

There have been six confirmed cases of Coronavirus in Macau to date, with three of the victims having stayed at atleast three major Cotai integrated resorts. One stayed at Sands Cotai Central (SCC), possibly the Sheraton, while another was believed to have stayed at either SCC or The Venetian Macau. Another is thought to have stayed at Galaxy Macau. 

Sheraton, one of the hotels involved in the reports, published a statement saying: “As a matter of privacy, we do not comment on details related to guests who have stayed with us. We continue to work in close partnership with the authorities.”

“The wellbeing of our guests is of the utmost importance to us. We are reinforcing our existing protocols for addressing public health issues. We encourage travellers and guests to pay close attention to guidance provided by their local authorities,” the statement added.