March Hotel occupancy 77% amid growing tourist numbers

The average occupancy rate of guest rooms in March stood at 77%, the highest figure the sector has recorded so far in three years.

The rates for 5-star (77.2%) and 2-star hotels (80.9%) surged 50.2 percentage points and 46.2 percentage points respectively, according to data from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC).

The continued rise in the occupancy rate comes after the tourism board’s continued promotion of the city to neighboring regions and the international market.

However, the rising number of tourist arrivals remain a challenge for the hotel sector due to staff shortages.

The Times is aware that some integrated resorts are requiring employees to work an extra half day shift, meaning the work schedule runs 12 hours a day due to lack of staff as they await increased quotas for non-resident workers.

Meanwhile, guests from mainland China (694,000), Hong Kong (186,000) and Taiwan (13,000) jumped by 156.9%, 933.7% and 478.4% respectively, whereas local guests (49,000) fell 31.4%.

There were nearly 1.96 million tourist arrivals in March as the city ramped up its tourism marketing to visitors from the mainland and the international market.

Further, in the first quarter of 2023, the average occupancy rate of guest rooms of hotel establishments went up by 33.9 percentage points year-on-year to 74.7%. The number of guests soared by 96.3% year-on-year to 2,699,000, while their average length of stay decreased by 0.2 night to 1.7 nights.

In March, the number of visitors arriving on package tours totaled 93,000, occupying a majority of the 110,000 recorded for the first quarter of this year.

A total of 126 hotel establishments offered accommodation services to the public in March, an increase of six year on year. Besides, the number of available guest rooms grew by 0.7% percent to 39,000, showed the report.

Meanwhile, hotel rooms are almost fully booked, and it is estimated occupancy rates will reach 90% or above throughout the May Golden Week, according to the Hotel and Tourism Chamber of Commerce.

The price of a 3-star to 4-star hotel is about MOP1,500 to 2,500, and up to MOP5,000 for 5-star hotels.

It is believed that there will be no significant price hikes during the May Day holiday.

As for budget hotels, room rates may exceed MOP1,000. LV