Hoteliers brace for tepid Golden Week as room rates slip 10%

With Golden Week days away, the hotel industry faces an uncomfortable reality: rooms are filling, but rates aren’t keeping up.

Average daily rates have softened by approximately 10% compared to last year, according to Rutger Verschuren, area vice president at Artyzen Hospitality Group and general manager of Artyzen Grand Lapa Macau.

“The downside is that May 1 falls on a Friday this year,” Verschuren said on the sidelines of a community event at his hotel. “It’s basically just a weekend – Friday night, Saturday night. Sunday is still good, but that’s it, basically.”

He said occupancy will be “very good” for three days, after which it drops a little bit. The compressed holiday schedule means room rates will drop significantly by the third day.

“Overall, for our hotels and our group, hopefully we will still have a pickup,” he said. “But we are slightly below last year – not so much the occupancy, but the rates. Rates are down by approximately 10 percent. I think this is across the city.”

For tourists, that means a cheaper stay. For hoteliers, it is a cautious reality check.

Verschuren attributed part of the softness to global geopolitical tensions affecting international arrivals. “We see that in our international tourist arrivals,” he said. “Unless they fly a different route. A few of our arrivals still fly through Dubai because the prices are much more affordable. But you need to be prepared for a stopover.”

The upside, he noted, is a rise in regional travel.

“Those countries in our region – Korea, mainland China, of course, Hong Kong, Taiwan – are also less likely to fly to Europe at this time,” he said. “So they make shorter trips. That is the upside. We see more of that at the moment.”

The remarks came during a markedly different milestone: the hotel’s sixth consecutive year supporting the Macau IC2 Association’s World Earth Day initiative, led by neurodivergent participants.

Asked about planned hotel renovations, Verschuren declined to comment: “Not yet. We are working on a plan, but it’s too early to announce anything at this stage. It takes time, but we are eager to.”

As Golden Week approaches, Macau’s hotels will watch their pricing strategies closely. For now, Verschuren remains cautiously optimistic about regional travel offsetting softer international arrivals.