Almost 10% of all visitors to Macau on Buddha’s Birthday were foreigners

Data disclosed by the Public Security Police Force (PSP) on border crossings over the holiday of Buddha’s Birthday (May 15) shows that 8,632 foreign visitors entered Macau during the 24 hour period.

The number accounts for 9.77% of the total number of visitor entries (88,338) on the same day.

As the Times had previously reported, during the Labor Day Golden Week (May 1-5), the number of international visitors was already showing growth, having reached 5.99% during that period, an increase of 2% when compared to the Easter and Ching Ming Festival this year.

The Times also reported that the influx of foreign visitors was particularly high and noticeable on the last of the five days that comprised the Golden Week, when most of the visitor flow was in the opposite trend, that is, leaving Macau. On May 5, some 9,046 foreign visitors entered Macau, while the average over the five days was 7,238.

It is not yet clear if this influx was just occasional or is part of a new trend that might have started early this month. Confirmation of the situation will be possible when the authorities release the full data from this month, which should happen mid-next month.

For the time being analyzing only the single day of May 15, some 3,942 of these foreign visitors (45.67%) have entered Macau through the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge Port, while another 1,616 (18.72%) arrived via the Macau International Airport. The third highest arrival point was the Taipa Ferry Terminal, accountable for 1,134 entries (13.14%).

South Koreans dominated Q1

Official statistics released by the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) and related to the first quarter of this year (January to March) show that visitors from South Korea have topped the ranking of foreign visitors to Macau.

In Q1, a total of 129,519 South Koreans visited Macau, followed by those from the Philippines (114,625). Those from Malaysia came third although there is a very significant gap between these and the first two. 39,839 Malaysians entered Macau in Q1, slightly more than the Indonesians (39,294) and the Thailanders (38,638), who complete the top five of the countries supplying the most foreign visitors to Macau.

The first of the non-Asian countries is the USA in sixth position (33,383) followed by Australia in ninth position (16,563).

The first among the European countries is the UK (9,518), although it is in the twelfth position overall.

The Q1 also closed with a total of 584,017 visitors to Macau, a figure that contributes to the optimism expressed recently by the local tourism authorities which have said to be confident Macau will reach its goal of two million international visitors this year.