Visitor arrivals rebound to 98% of 2019 levels in October

Macau’s visitor arrivals bounced back strongly in October 2024, reaching 97.7% of the level seen in October 2019, according to data from the Statistics and Census Service.

The total number of visitor arrivals in October 2024 stood at 3,135,358, a 13.7% year-on-year increase and 24% month-on-month growth.

The recovery was driven by a 23.2% surge in same-day visitors to 1,789,072, while overnight visitors grew by a more modest 3.1% to 1,346,286. However, the average length of stay of visitors shortened by 0.1 days year-on-year to 1.1 days, with that of overnight visitors remaining unchanged at 2.3 days.

Mainland China remained the primary source market, with visitors from the mainland increasing by 16.1% year-on-year to 2,263,443.

International visitor arrivals also rebounded, climbing 31.2% year-on-year to 212,284, which was 98.8% of the October 2019 level. Key source markets like the Philippines, Malaysia and India all posted solid gains, while Thailand saw a 14.5% drop.

In the first 10 months of 2024, total visitor arrivals went up by 28.1% year-on-year to 29,056,272, which was 87% of the figure in the same period in 2019. International visitor arrivals increased 85% year-on-year, 73.1% of the 2019 level.

The total number of visitor arrivals in Macau is projected to exceed the official target of 33 million, potentially reaching 34 million, according to Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes, director of the Macau Government Tourism Office (MGTO).

Her remarks to the press are aligned with outgoing Chief Executive Ho Iat Seng’s indication in a Legislative Assembly address earlier this week that visitor arrivals could indeed reach 34 million this year.

This updated projection follows the government’s announcement that Macau had welcomed over 30 million tourists by Nov. 10. VC