Hotel occupancy tops 90% during holiday peak

Macau’s hotels were nearly full during the National Day Golden Week peak, with occupancy above 90% from October 1 to 5 and some properties fully booked, according to industry figures.

Cheung Kin Chung, who heads the Macau Hoteliers & Innkeepers Association, said operators tailored packages to the holiday’s family-heavy visitor mix, offering parent-child activities and festive experiences.

He described the period as a strong showing in both volume and quality, calling it a sign of the sector’s resilience and a further step in Macau’s development as a world center for tourism and leisure.

Cheung cited government-backed community programs, including the Rua de Cinco de Outubro festival, as a driver of district-level spending, noting that family, cultural, leisure, and food-themed itineraries had drawn strong interest and broadened the appeal of the city’s tourism offering.

Looking further out, he said in a recent interview with public broadcaster TDM that Hengqin-Macau cultural and tourism integration is the sector’s key growth engine, adding that operators would invest more and deepen cross-border coordination to expand “Macau plus Hengqin” offerings and develop new products.

On the topic, Lei Cheok Kuan, president of the Industry and Commerce Federation of Macau Central and Southern District, said foot traffic in the district was steady throughout the holiday and called for the Rua de Nossa Senhora do Amparo pedestrian zone to be extended, potentially linking Rua de Cinco de Outubro, Rua das Estalagens and Rua da Felicidade into a single walking route to improve the visitor experience and channel crowds into the area.

Also weighing in, Paul Wong, president of the Macau Leisure Tourism Services Innovation Association, said arrivals met industry expectations, with the third and fourth days of the holiday the busiest. He noted that international sporting events toward the end of the period helped keep visitor numbers up.