Macao could welcome more visitors in 2025 than ever before, surpassing even the pre-pandemic peak of 39.4 million arrivals recorded in 2019, according to Davis Fong, director of the Institute for the Study of Commercial Gaming at the University of Macau (UM). His comments to local media were cited by casino industry website Asia Gaming Brief.
Between January and July, the SAR recorded over 22.6 million visitor arrivals, according to provisional figures. That’s a 14 percent increase compared with the same period in 2024, and not too far off the 23.8 million seen in the first seven months of 2019. The government has stated it aims to attract between 38 and 39 million tourists in 2025.
Fong noted that the second half of the year tended to be the busy time for festivals and large-scale events, which should sustain tourism momentum. He also pointed to signs of recovery in the mainland’s stock markets and asset prices that suggested consumer spending – which has long been lacklustre – could pick up in the months ahead. The vast majority of Macao’s tourists visit from mainland China.
[See more: Tourism is up almost 15 percent year-on-year in the first half of 2025]
Fong also highlighted a shift in visitors’ spending habits, with average non-gambling consumption now outpacing gaming-related spending – a signal of structural change in Macao’s tourism landscape that reflects the government’s push to develop attractions beyond the city’s famed casinos.
On the subject of gambling, Fong said he expected gross gaming revenue (GGR) to remain steady at around 20 billion patacas (US$2.5 billion) per month through the rest of the year. With gambling revenues sharply rising over the past three months, he encouraged casino operators to identify the underlying drivers to maintain growth.
Macau’s gross domestic product (GDP), meanwhile, is also showing signs of improvement. The city’s economy grew 5.1 percent year-on-year in the second quarter, bringing the indicator to nearly 89 percent of its 2019 level for the same period. The result was a welcome reversal of the first quarter’s 1.3 percent year-on-year contraction.
