Macau visitors increase 26 pct in May 2019

During May 2019, Macau counted 25.6% more visitors year-on-year as it totalled 3.4 million arrivals last month.

Macau.- The city’s Statistics and Census Service (SCS) revealed that Macau posted 25.6% more visitors year-on-year in May. Last month, arrivals reached 3.4 million, which grew the most in same-day records than overnight visitors did.

According to the SCS, overnight arrivals reached 1.6 million last month, 10.3% up year-on-year. Meanwhile, the same-day visitors tally grew 43.3% to 1.8 million.

The number of Macau visitors was boosted by the Labour Day holiday period running across May 1-4. Over those four days, 636,644 visitors arrived in the city, as revealed by the Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO).

According to the Tourism Office, the volume of Macau’s inbound visitors grew by 64.2%. That means that 2.5 million arrived via land crossings. Furthermore, it detailed that those arriving via ferries declined by 40% to less than 547k.

Tax money in Macau

The gambling industry remains a major revenue source for the Macanese government, as shown in a recent report. Official figures revealed that money collected from Macau gaming taxes reached €5.3 billion between January and May 31.

The government released the figure last Wednesday and explained it represents 49.2% of the yearly budget forecast. Furthermore, money from Macau gaming taxes amounted for 90.8% of the collection from all sources (€5.85 billion).

The segment’s future

Macau continues to post lower figures month-by-month as the US-China trade war continues. That’s why brokerage Sanford C. Bernstein lowered its forecast for the growth rate of Macau’s gaming gross revenue (GGR) for June by 1%.