Average Macao hotel occupancy in March grew to 77 percent, an increase of more than 46 percent compared to the same month last year, when Macao was in the grip of pandemic travel restrictions.
According to figures from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC), the luxury and budget ends of the market have recovered especially well, with five-star properties posting slightly higher than average occupancy at 77.2 percent and two-star hotels registering an average of nearly 81 percent – year-on-year increases of more than 50 percent and 46 percent respectively.
A total of 972,000 visitors stayed at hotels during the month – a jump of more than 164 percent – with the majority of them from mainland China (694,000), Hong Kong (186,000) and Taiwan (13,000).
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Macao’s hotels are preparing for a large influx of visitors over the upcoming Labour Day Golden Week – a customary holiday in mainland China.
A Morgan Stanley survey of 25 hotels earlier this month found that 17 were reporting themselves fully booked for the holiday period.
However, ongoing demand has led to steep increases in hotel room rates as well as labour shortages that are holding back Macao’s full recovery, some analysts say.
