Melco Resorts aims to bring more Korean tourists to Macau

Melco is making Korean travellers a top priority.

Macau.- Jennifer Lai, director of innovation and public relations at Melco Resorts, has said during a media event with Korean press in Seoul that the company is working to bring more Korean tourists to Macau. She noted that Korea is one of the top five international tourist markets for Macau and welcomed the normalisation of flights with four to five flights per day.

According to the Korean media outlet Etoday, Lai said Melco’s integrated resort (IR) is creating digital marketing strategies and is preparing customised packages for the Korean market. She added that tourists visiting Macau are shifting from gaming-centred to non-gaming experiences and want to stay overnight rather than take day trips.

Visitors from the Republic of Korea reached 341,497 in the first nine months of the year. That’s an increase of 207 per cent in year-on-year terms. The city received 25,920,914 visitors in total in that period, and increase of 30.1 per cent when compared to last year to 85.8 per cent of the 2019 level.

Same-day visitors (13.83 million) rose by 42.8 per cent year-on-year and overnight visitors (12.05 million) by 18.1. The average length of stay shortened by 0.1 days in year-on-year terms to 1.2 days, with that of overnight visitors remaining unchanged at 2.3 days.

Mainland Chinese tourists accounted for the majority of arrivals at 18,217,413. That’s a rise of 36.3 per cent year-on-year but only 84.9 per cent of 2019 levels. The number travelling under the Individual Visit Scheme (IVS; 9,257,455) grew by 20.4 per cent year-on-year.

In September, Macau received 2,528,011 visitors. The figure was up by 9.9 per cent compared to the same month last year. Visitor arrivals reached 91.4 per cent of those in the same month of 2019, before Covid-19. International visitor arrivals reached 173,614, 92.7 per cent of 2019 levels.

Same-day visitors (1,308,147) and overnight visitors (1,219,864) grew by 15.6 per cent and 4.3 per cent year-on-year respectively. Meanwhile, the average length of stay shortened by 0.1 day year-on-year to 1.3 days.

Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes, the director of Macau’s Government Tourism Office (MGTO), has said she is confident Macau will reach 34 million visits this year, 6 million more than in 2023.

Macau casinos: CICC forecasts 5% growth for GGR in Q4

China International Capital Corporation Hong Kong Securities (CICC) has projected that Macau’s gross gaming revenue (GGR) for the fourth quarter of the year will rise 5 per cent in year-on-year terms and 4 per cent compared to the third quarter.

Analysts Shengyong Goh, Jiayu Wang and Liwei Hou said the growth would be driven by the appreciation of the renminbi against the Hong Kong dollar, which is expected to attract more visitors and increase their spending capacity. They noted that the final quarter benefited from a strong October Golden Week, the seven-day holiday period which saw 916,000 visitors in the city. Consumer confidence is also projected to strengthen, supported by a series of stimulus policies introduced by the Chinese government.

The analysts mentioned that non-gaming events might have contributed to boosting the number of visitors. Operators are hosting non-gaming events, such as concerts, residency shows, sports events, and art exhibitions, more frequently. In the current quarter, analysts expect concerts from Andy Lau and Dao Lang, as well as UFC Fight Night, to be particularly attractive.