Hotel occupancy hits 90% in Q1 despite drop in guest numbers

Hotel occupancy in Macau surged to 90.1% in the first quarter of 2025, up 5.2 percentage points year-on-year, according to the latest data from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC), despite a drop in overall guest numbers.

The number of available guest rooms declined 5.8% to 44,000, even as demand intensified.

Five-star hotels led the way with a 93.2% occupancy rate, followed by three-star (86.6%) and four-star (84.5%) properties. The average length of stay remained steady at 1.7 nights.

Inbound package tour visitor numbers climbed 9.1% to 550,000 in the first quarter. Visitors from mainland China accounted for 477,000 of these, up 6.3%. International tour arrivals jumped 19.8% to 60,000, with strong growth from South Korea (33,000), up 43.5% year-on-year.

In March alone, 244,000 inbound package tourists were recorded, a 5.6% increase, including 214,000 from mainland China and 24,000 international visitors. South Korea continued to dominate international figures, with 11,000 arrivals, up 41.9%.

Meanwhile, the total number of hotel guests dropped 5.4% to 3.57 million in the first quarter, driven by a 3.4% decline in mainland Chinese guests. However, international guests rose 8.1% to 292,000. Notable growth came from Indonesia (+31.2%), Malaysia (+14.7%), and Japan (+9.8%).

Outbound travel by local residents also saw modest gains, with 124,000 purchasing services through travel agencies, an 8.7% rise. Those joining outbound package tours surged 21% to 31,000, mostly to mainland China. LV