Non-gaming spending by visitors up 17.4% in 1H

[Photo: Renato Marques]

The total non-gaming spending by visitors to Macau in the first half (1H) of this year increased by 17.4% year-over-year, reaching MOP44.47 billion, the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) reported.

In the same official statistics release, the DSEC also reported that per-capita spending by these visitors, excluding gaming spending, increased by 7.8% to MOP2,123.

Further analysis shows that, as expected, the largest share of spending was generated by overnight visitors (72.88%), who spent a total of MOP32.41 billion, while same-day visitors accounted for the remaining MOP12.05 billion. Still, both visitor types recorded increases, with same-day visitors posting the larger increase, at 53.5%. Overnight visitors’ spending rose by 8%.

A similar analysis of per-capita spending shows the same trend, with overnight visitors reaching MOP4,024 (up 7.7%) and same-day visitors reaching MOP935 (up 33.2%).

Shopping tops spending

By type of expense, visitors spent mainly on shopping (46% of total), followed by accommodation (22.3%) and food and beverages (21.5%).

By the main purpose of the visit, DSEC noted that visitors arriving for Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions (MICE) events had relatively high per-capita spending, at MOP4,593.

Hong Kong and international visitors spend more

By source of visitors, per-capita non-gaming spending by visitors from mainland China (MOP2,361) and Hong Kong (MOP1,170) rose by 4.8% and 24.4% year-over-year, respectively.

On the other hand, per-capita spending by visitors from Taiwan (MOP1,888) decreased by 2.7%.

Per-capita spending by international visitors (MOP2,110) increased by 12% year-over-year, led particularly by Northeast Asian markets. Per-capita spending by visitors from South Korea (MOP2,489) and Japan (MOP2,326) grew by 20.3% and 31.2%, respectively.

Another important market in terms of spending that showed a significant increase was Singapore (MOP3,465), where per-capita spending increased by 19.3% year-over-year, while spending by visitors from Malaysia (MOP1,850) grew by 6.9%.

In the opposite direction were visitors from Thailand (MOP2,081), whose numbers have been increasing, but whose per-capita spending decreased by 10.1% in the first half of this year compared to last year.