Macau to increase arrivals during second half of 2017

The local tourism office said that new casino resorts opening during the second half of the year will help grow visitor arrivals.

Macau.- Director of the Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO), Helena de Senna Fernandes, revealed that the possibility of new casino resorts opening in the territory during the remaining months of the year increases the expectations of a steady growth in visitor arrivals.

The official revealed that tourism numbers in the first six months of the year were positive and that they expect the growth to keep rising for the rest of the summer, as GGRAsia cited. “Obviously we don’t expect a double-digit increase [this summer]… but we would expect a single digit increase in terms of our visitor arrivals,” she said. Moreover, hotel occupancy rates are expected to be over 80 percent on average for summer period, the official confirmed.

Macau’s Statistics and Census Bureau numbers established that the territory experienced the arrival of 15.6 million visitors from January to June, a 5.4 percent increase when compared to the same period in 2016. “We look forward to – probably from September to the end of the year – the possibility of new hotels coming in [Cotai], so we believe that that would also entice other groups of visitors to come to Macau,” she added.

Whilst the opening date for the upcoming MGM casino, MGM Cotai, is still uncertain, Grant Bowie, chief executive officer and executive director of MGM China, said that the company will focus on maximising the market share and profitability by making sure that they deliver a property that’s interesting and is able to attract more visitors to Macau, “not just from China but from all over Asia and the rest of the world.”