ZAPE hotels stay full despite satellite casino pullout, says insider

[Photo: Renato Marques]

Hotel occupancy in the ZAPE district has remained stable despite the departure of satellite casinos from the area late last year, with strong demand from independent travelers helping to offset weaker group-tour activity, according to a tourism industry representative.

The industry insider attributed the stable occupancy to factors such as convenience of access to tourist attractions and travel time considerations, noting that many independent travelers prefer to stay in hotels on the Macau Peninsula.

“So even after the satellite casinos withdrew from the area at the end of last year, hotel occupancy in the ZAPE district did not see a sharp decline and has remained stable,” said Andy Wu, president of the Travel Industry Council of Macau.

Citing data from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC), a report in Jornal Cheng Pou on Wednesday revealed that the average hotel occupancy rate for the first half of this year stood at 90.4%, representing a year-on-year increase of 1.3 percentage points, while the total number of hotel guests declined by 1.1% to 7.127 million. Wu attributed the trend to a reduction in group tours, which had softened demand for hotel rooms, along with a slight decrease in the average length of tourist stays.

“The situation does put some pressure on hotel occupancy rates,” Wu reportedly said, adding that the influx of independent travelers, combined with stable hotel prices, had helped sustain overall occupancy above 90%. He expressed his belief that if current visitor numbers, length of stay and the number of hotels were taken into account, extending tourists’ stays could lead to a shortage of hotel rooms.

According to him, a self-regulating mechanism has already emerged in the market, with some visitors choosing to travel on weekdays rather than during peak periods from Friday to Sunday or on certain holidays, thereby creating balance and indirectly curbing price hikes driven by supply constraints. He added that with some travelers opting for off-peak travel, September’s tourist season would likely see only a slight decline in hotel occupancy rather than a significant drop.

Wednesday’s report also highlighted the issue of illegal guesthouses, with the industry insider saying that the situation in the ZAPE district had worsened since the tourism recovery, though he noted that no formal complaints had been received from the sector.