Macao’s Tourist Price Index went up by 26 percent in the fourth quarter of 2023, when compared with the same period a year prior, new Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) figures reveal.
Hotel room rates were the surge’s biggest driver, with the accommodation index rising by a whopping 179 percent year-on-year (note that Macao was still imposing strict border restrictions in the fourth quarter of 2022, meaning that demand for rooms was negligible).
Compared with the third quarter of 2023, the accommodation index went up a still significant 20 percent, however – owing to high rates charged during the National Day holiday and the Macau Grand Prix, DSEC stated.
[See more: The provisional tourism numbers are in for 2023]
The food, alcohol and tobacco index, and the restaurant services index, went up by 3.68 percent and 2 percentage points, respectively.
Between the start and end of 2023, the average Macao Tourist Price Index went up by 22 percent.
Macao’s consumer price index, meanwhile, has held comparatively steady. Between November 2022 and November 2023, it rose just 1.16 percentage points.
The SAR welcomed about 28.23 million visitors in 2023, with numbers ramping up in the final quarter. In 2022, due to the pandemic, just 5.7 million tourists entered Macao.
