Fruitful year for visitor figures, all goals should be reached

This year was fruitful for visitor figures, with the goals set by the Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO) all being achieved or within close reach, statistics show.

MGTO’s goal was for at least 33 million visitors, including at least 2 million international visitors.

Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) figures for November note the 2 million international visitors goal has already been surpassed.

By the end of November, 2,130,891 international visitors had arrived, including notably those from South Korea (437,160), the Philippines (433,102) and Indonesia (156,192).

Visitors from South Asian countries increased this year due to the resumption of many flight routes not only at the Macau International Airport but also at the Hong Kong International Airport.

These figures, as the Times has previously reported, include visitors from the Philippines and Indonesia, two major markets of non-resident workers (TNR) to Macau and the neighboring region of Hong Kong.

Like last year, non-resident workers were significantly represented among international visitors, especially those working in Hong Kong. Because of proximity as well as visa requirements, Macau has historically been the preferred destination after departing Hong Kong while waiting for working permit renewals, the so-called “U-turns.”

The same happens as new workers have been recruited to fill vacant posts in Macau.

The new law on hiring non-resident workers does not allow a person entering Macau on a tourism visa to apply for a work visa while in the territory.

These workers must remain outside Macau while awaiting their blue card. They stay in Hong Kong or, in many cases currently, the mainland.

At the same time, these type of “visitors” account for the growth of same-day visitors.

Still, there were significant increases for visitors from other countries such as Malaysia (154,381), which doubled in the first 11 months of this year when compared to the same period last year.

Visitors from the USA (132,619) accounted for significant growth of about 64% year-on-year, while European visitors recorded increases ranging between 36.4% (UK) and 136.9% (Russia).

In general, the international visitor figure is 74.5% higher than last year.

General visitor on the verge of being reached

According to DSEC, at the end of November, 31,888,313 people had visited Macau, 1.1 million short of the forecasted 33 million.

Considering the monthly visitor average was 2.9 million, it is likely this year will end with close to 35 million visitors, that is, about 6% higher than the forecast.

For the time being, the government has only admitted to having reviewed the forecast to as many as 34 million.

The average length of stay for visitors in November remained steady at 1.2 days.

According to the most recent figures related to the days starting on Macau handover day (Dec. 20) and until Sunday (Dec. 22), there was a progressively high number of visitors entering Macau.

On Dec. 20, 77,033 visitors entered Macau, followed by 110,484 on the following day (Dec. 21) and 124,518 on Sunday (Dec. 22).