Hotel occupancy stays high as room rates diverge across districts

During the summer holidays, Macau’s hotels maintained high occupancy, but expanding room supply and competition from neighboring Zhuhai and Hengqin continued to put pressure on prices in some districts, according to industry officials and government data.

Average hotel occupancy exceeded 90% in July, while room rates in NAPE and the peninsula’s older districts fell by as much as 10% year over year.

Jocelyn Wong, president of the Macau Hotel Association and deputy general manager of the Royal Hotel, said occupancy levels were broadly in line with industry expectations. In comments published Monday by Chinese-language Macao Daily, Wong attributed demand to rising visitor numbers and a busy schedule of concerts and other events.

Official figures released Friday by the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) showed that the average hotel room occupancy rate reached 91.6% in July, up 0.5 percentage points from a year earlier. Five-star hotels recorded occupancy of 94.2%, an increase of 0.2 percentage points, while four-star properties reached 90.3%, up 3.8 percentage points. Three-star hotels recorded occupancy of 85.5%, down 1.5 percentage points.

The data also pointed to softer lodging demand by volume. The number of guests staying in hotel establishments fell 4.3% year over year to 1.23 million in July. Inbound package-tour visitors declined 6.7% to 141,000, including a 7.2% decrease in arrivals from mainland China.

Mainland China remained Macau’s largest source market, with families and parent-child travelers accounting for a growing share of demand. Weekend concerts and other major events helped support bookings, while international arrivals also increased, led by Southeast Asian markets. Wong highlighted particularly strong growth from India and a recovery in visitors from South Korea.

Occupancy and prices diverge

The strong occupancy figures in July have not translated into uniform pricing power across Macau. While new budget and five-star properties have expanded the city’s room inventory, mainland visitors are increasingly choosing to stay in Zhuhai or Hengqin and commute to Macau.

Together, these trends have intensified competition, particularly on the peninsula. Wong said hotels in NAPE and the peninsula’s older districts recorded room-rate declines of 8% to 10% year over year during the summer. The drop was sharper than the 5% to 6% decline recorded in the same areas during the first half of the year, when average occupancy was about 80%.

DSEC records showed that for the first seven months of 2026, Macau’s average hotel occupancy rate was 90.6%, up 1.2 percentage points from a year earlier. The number of hotel guests, however, fell 1.4% to 8.37 million. International hotel guests increased 12.2% to 753,000, while inbound package-tour visitors declined 11.4% to 990,000.

Regarding hotel operators looking beyond the traditional mainland market, Wong said the hotel industry plans to work with the Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO) on overseas promotions, particularly in Southeast Asia, and to make greater use of China’s 144-hour visa-free transit policy.

According to Wong, her association is also seeking closer cooperation with international online travel agencies (OTAs) and digital travel platforms, including Agoda, to increase Macau hotels’ visibility and bookings in Southeast Asia, Northeast Asia and the Middle East.

Looking forward, Wong said Macau hotels are increasingly developing “tourism-plus” packages linked to concerts, the Macau Grand Prix, meetings and conventions, as well as fireworks displays. Regarding such offers, she said hotels may combine accommodation with event tickets, dining and discounts to encourage longer stays and spread spending beyond the major integrated resorts.

In addition, the association said community maps and hotel packages connected to local experiences could help direct more visitor spending into older districts and support Macau’s nighttime economy.

On cross-border cooperation with Hengqin, Wong said Macau hotels may develop accommodation-and-exhibition packages and support conferences, exhibitions and sporting events staged simultaneously or in sequence across Macau and Hengqin.