Tourism | 35.8 million: Macau hits new record in visitor arrivals

The number of visitor arrivals to Macau set a new record of 35.8 million in 2018, representing 9.8 percent year- on-year growth, according to the latest information released by the Statistics and Census Service. Overnight visitors reached 18.49 million, while same-day visitors totaled 17.31 million, growing by 7.2 percent and 12.7 percent respectively.

The average length of stay held stable compared with 2017 at 1.2 days; overnight visitors stayed about 0.1 days longer last year (2.2 days) and same-day visitors stayed an unchanged amount at 0.2 days.

Analyzed by place of origin, visitors from mainland China (25.26 million), Hong Kong (6.32 million) and Taiwan (1.06 million) increased by 13.8 percent, 2.6 percent and 0.1 percent respectively. At the same time, visitors from South Korea (812,000), a key target market of the tourism authority, saw a decrease of 7 percent.

Visitors from the United States (201,000), Australia (90,000) and the United Kingdom (58,000) recorded year-on-year growth, while the number of those from Canada (74,000) held steady in 2018.

Analyzed by mode of transport, visitors arrivals by land surged by 18.9 percent year-on-year to 22.15 million in 2018, with 1.05 million entering via the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge, according to the Statistics and Census Bureau. The number of visitors arriving via the Border Gate, accounting for more than 80 percent of land arrivals, reached 18.22 million, 13.2 percent more than in 2017.

Visitor arrivals by air increased by 20.1 percent year-on-year to 3.29 million, with those arriving via the airport (3.27 million) rising by 19.9 percent. Meanwhile, visitor arrivals by sea decreased by 7.8 percent to 10.35 million, with those disembarking at the Outer Harbor Ferry Terminal (6.1 million) and the Taipa Ferry Terminal (4.24 million) dropping 11.3 percent and 2.3 percent respectively.

The 2018 visitor total was tallied after the data for the month of December was released. In December, visitor arrivals set a new monthly record of nearly 3.57 million, showing 16.9 percent growth year-on-year and a 9.3 percent rise month-to-month.

Overnight visitors numbered 1.74 million in December, while same-day visitors surpassed 1.82 million, increasing 6.5 percent and 28.9 percent respectively year-on-year. The average length of stay of visitors held steady at 1.2 days compared with December 2017, with that of overnight visitors rising by 0.1 days to 2.2 days and same-day visitors staying at 0.2 days.