Macao’s average occupancy rate came in at 89.3 percent for the first three quarters of the year, up 3.9 percentage points from the same period last year, according to data released by the Statistics and Census Service (known by its Portuguese initials DSEC) on Thursday.
The rates for 5-star (92.6 percent), 4-star (83.7 percent) and 3-star hotels (85.3 percent) showed growth of 5.1 percentage points, 2.5 percentage points and 2.3 percentage points respectively. The average length of stay remained stable at 1.7 nights.
The SAR counted 147 hotel establishments at the end of September, three more than a year earlier, offering a total of around 45,000 guest rooms – up 2.4 percent year-on-year.
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Overall guest numbers crept up by 0.1 percent year-on-year to 10.9 million. Mainlanders continued to make up the vast majority: 8.1 million, an increase of 1.3 percent. The number of international guests experienced robust growth of 9.5 percent year-on-year, hitting 854,000. Numbers from Japan grew the most at 20.6 percent, followed by South Koreans at 8.6 percent. The number of guests from Hong Kong (1,337,000) decreased by 6 percent year-on-year.
The figures also underscored a shift toward independent travel: package tour visitor numbers fell 7.8 percent year-on-year, to 1.38 million.
In September alone, hotel occupancy stood at 84.6 percent, little changed from a year earlier, while package tour arrivals plunged 20.2 percent to 106,000. However, international tour visitors increased by 33.6 percent year-on-year, to 20,000.
