Visits to Macau rise 18.7 pct in August

The Statistics and Census Service revealed that 3.40 million people visited Macau during August.

Macau.- The Statistics and Census Service of Macau revealed on Monday that 3.40 million people visited the Chinese territory during August, an 18.7% increase year-on-year. Not only were visits higher in comparison to the same month of 2017, but the growth was way up in July, when the index grew 4%.

According to the report, visitors from mainland China expanded by 25.3% year-on-year to nearly 2.53 million. Furthermore, the Service showed that visitors under the Individual Visit Scheme (an exit permit system for outbound tourists travelling alone) grew 31% year-on-year in August, to about 1.31 million.

The added amount of visitors from January to August 31 also grew by 8.9% year-on-year to 23.25 million. As officials reported, mainland Chinese accounted for 70.5% of the total (16.40 million), up by 14.2% in comparison to the first 8 months of 2017.

During August, gambling revenue in Macau was up 17%, the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau revealed, as it reached €2.84 billion. It was the 25th straight month that gambling revenues went up in the only legal hub in China, mainly thanks to local gamblers keen to bet in the territory.