Hotel occupancy peaks in summer, sector eyes Golden Week

Hotel occupancy has reached a peak during the summer vacation and the hotel sector has since seen a decline this month, according to Jocelyn Wong, president of the Macau Hotel Association.

Tourist arrivals during the two months of summer reached 5.98 million, as China’s tourism market heated up from the start of July, as parents and students embraced their first post-pandemic summer.

Currently, bookings for budget hotels for the upcoming Golden Week are between 60% and 70%, said Wong, while the general occupancy rate of five-star hotels on weekdays has reached 90%.

The Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO) has raised its daily visitor arrival forecast for October’s Golden Week by more than 10%, forecasting that Macau can see an average of over 100,000 visitors daily.

Previously, it only estimated some 80,000 to 90,000 daily visitors during the upcoming Golden Week, which will run from September 29 to October 6 as it includes the the Mid-Autumn Festival.

In 2022, the city saw some 182,000 visitors during the holiday period.

Further, Wong said budget hotels cost MOP1,500 to MOP2,000 per night, and larger hotels cost MOP3,000 to MOP4,000 per night, as cited in a TDM report.

Wong hopes the government can take the lead in allowing students to participate in short-term internships or part-time jobs in local hotels or different companies, to attract more students to join the hotel industry.

Just recently, the tourism authority said that the opening of affordable accommodation in traditional districts helps to reinvigorate them.

Senna Fernandes said that newly opened or revamped accommodations may not offer luxurious surroundings to their customers, but their strategic locations in the heart of the city will be appealing to many tourists whose itineraries may focus on the more traditional part of the city.