First-half visitor arrivals rise 9%, with international visitors growing more slowly

Macau recorded nearly 21 million visitor arrivals in the first half of the year, surpassing the 20 million mark for the first time in the period and posting a 9% year-over-year increase, according to official statistics released by the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC).

Despite the overall growth, international visitor arrivals rose by only 6%, highlighting the city’s continued reliance on the Greater China market.

In the first half of 2025, the total number stood just shy of the 20 million mark (19,218,540), a milestone well surpassed this year, driven mostly by strong results in February, March, and April, which were well above the previous year’s numbers.

February alone accounted for more than 1 million additional visitors compared with 2025, while March and April each recorded more than 300,000 additional arrivals than the previous year.

As for the final month of the first half, June had the fewest visitor arrivals so far this year, with a total of 2,801,152. This figure was not only down 14.27% month over month but also 3.11% year over year, making it the only month this year to record fewer arrivals than last year.

Traditionally, June and September record the lowest visitor arrival numbers of the year.

Still, looking at the first half as a whole, the monthly average this year was well above that of 2025, reaching almost 3.5 million visitor arrivals per month.

International visitors up 6%

As for international visitor arrivals, which are considered the main target for the local tourism authority, the number of visitors also increased in the first half year over year, but at a slower rate.

International visitors totaled 1,422,448 in the first half of the year, up 6% year over year, led mostly by a significant surge in visitors from Thailand (+51.4%) to 122,494.

Visitors from India (+12.4%) reached 65,542, recording double-digit growth, while South Korea, the largest source market among international visitors, remained relatively stable, edging up just 0.7% from last year to 284,258.

In the short-haul markets, one notable trend was the drop in visitor numbers from the Philippines, one of Macau’s top markets, which recorded a 1.2% decline to 270,441.

Indonesia and Japan, two other traditional markets for Macau, both recorded significant declines (-16% and -12.6%, respectively). Visitor numbers also declined from Malaysia (-3.9%) and Singapore (-2.7%).

Among long-haul markets, visitors from the United States (82,121) continued to top the rankings and recorded a 7.4% year-over-year increase. The most notable change, however, was the number of visitors from Russia, which reached 33,824 in the first half, up 82.7% year over year.

Brazil also posted strong growth, despite its relatively small base, with arrivals increasing 49.8% in the first half to 8,204.

More short stays

According to DSEC, same-day visitors (12,889,844) rose by 15.3% and accounted for about 61.5% of all visitor arrivals. Meanwhile, overnight visitors (8,054,602) recorded only a slight increase (+0.2%), indicating that short-stay visits by travelers who do not contribute to the local hospitality industry are rising faster.

In June alone, the number of overnight visitors shrank by 9%.

This also meant that the average length of stay for visitors fell by 0.1 day year over year to one day, while that of overnight visitors (2.3 days) remained unchanged.

Unsurprisingly, the growth in the number of same-day visitors was reflected in the increase in the number of visitors from mainland China, which rose 11% year over year to 15,286,203.

This means that mainland visitors accounted for 72.98% of all visitor arrivals. Of these, 8,417,542 traveled under the Individual Visit Scheme, which saw an even larger increase of 13.6%.

Visitors from Hong Kong remained stable at around 3.6 million (17.5% market share), with only slight variations. During the first half, the number of visitors from the neighboring SAR increased by just 0.3%.

Visitors from Taiwan grew by almost 25%, reaching 575,895 in the first half.

Together, visitors from the Greater China region accounted for more than 93% of all visitors to Macau in the first half of the year, leaving just under 7% of total arrivals from international markets.