Economy | Visitor arrivals up compared to weak Hato August

Visitor arrivals increased 18.7 percent year-on-year and 12.2 percent month-to-month in August 2018 to reach a total of 3.4 million, according to the latest information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC).

The significant year-on-year rise in August is partly due to the impact of Typhoon Hato last year. In the immediate aftermath of the typhoon, the city’s transportation infrastructure was not able to function properly and the Macau Government Tourism Office suspended tour groups from traveling to the MSAR during the last week of the month.

Accordingly, in August 2017 visitor arrivals edged down 0.6 percent year-on-year to about 2.8 million, though gross gaming revenues appeared to be unaffected.

This August, overnight visitors and same-day visitors grew by 16.3 percent and 21.6 percent year-on-year to reach 1.8 million and 1.6 million respectively.

The average length of stay of visitors dropped by 0.1 days year- on-year to 1.2 days, with that of overnight visitors and same-day visitors holding at 2.2 days and 0.2 days respectively.

Analyzed by place of origin, visitors from mainland China increased by 25.3 percent year-on-year to top 2.5 million in August 2018, with almost 1.1 million coming from neighboring Guangdong province. Visitors from Hong Kong (556,000) and Taiwan (94,000) increased by 5 percent and 1.7 percent respectively, however those from South Korea (66,000) decreased by 12.6 percent. Visitors from the United States (13,000), Australia (5,000), Canada (5,000) and the United Kingdom (4,000) registered year-on-year growth.

In the first eight months of 2018, visitor arrivals reached 23.2 million, up by 8.9 percent year- on-year, with overnight visitors (12.2 million) and same-day visitors (11 million) growing by 8.4 percent and 9.4 percent respectively. The average length of stay of visitors held steady year-on-year at 1.2 days, with that of overnight visitors (2.2 days) rising by 0.1 day and that of same-day visitors (0.2 days) remaining unchanged.

Over the course of the first eight months of the year, visitors from mainland China numbered 16.4 million, up 14.2 percent from the same period in 2017, while those from Taiwan increased by 0.7 percent to 720,000. Meanwhile, visitors from South Korea (550,000) and Hong Kong (4.1 million) dropped by 5.8 percent and 2.4 percent respectively.

Visitors from the United States (127,000), Australia (57,000) and Canada (47,000) recorded year-on-year increases, whereas those from the United Kingdom (37,000) saw a decline.

MGTO platform to show provisional golden week statistics

THE MACAU Government Tourism Office (MGTO) has updated its online platform used to indicate local tourism statistics, including provisional and historical data for the two Golden Weeks, Chinese New Year and National Day on October 1. The tourism data platform shows historical data about visitation during the Golden Weeks as provided by the Statistics and Census Service, as well as provisional data for the current year provided by the Public Security Police Force. According to a statement issued by the MGTO, provisional Golden Week statistics are only available during the Golden Weeks.