Some 16.73 million visitors arrived in Macao during the initial six months of 2024, according to preliminary data released by the Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO) this morning.
The figure, which is equivalent to roughly 92,000 visitor arrivals per day, represents a year-on-year growth of 43.6 percent and a recovery of around 82.5 percent in comparison to the pre-pandemic figure of 20.28 million in 2019.
There were almost 1.17 million international visitors, a surge of 146.4 percent year-on-year. In comparison to 2019, which saw 1.74 million overseas tourists, the current number is equivalent to a rebound of around 67 percent.
The hotel industry also saw robust results, with the data indicating that the hotel occupancy rate between January and May reached an average of 84.3 percent, a surge of 77 percent year-on-year – and just 7.2 percent less than the 91.5 percent recorded in 2019.
[See more: Foreign visitor arrivals rose sharply in the first six months of 2024]
“The recovery in the number of guests staying in hotels was even more apparent,” MGTO stated. Some 6.14 million people checked into Macao’s hotels in the first five months of this year, an increase of 25 percent in comparison to the same period last year and a growth of 6 percent against the 2019 total.
In analysing the data, MGTO said that the visitor arrival numbers were, on the whole, in line with its forecasts. The office added that it would take advantage of the initiatives that the central government has put in place for the benefit of Macao, including the rising of the duty-free threshold, the Hengqin-Macao multiple entry visa and the addition of 10 new mainland cities to the Individual Visit Scheme.
In a bid to expand the international visitor market base, MGTO mentioned that it had conducted six overseas roadshows this year – in Japan, Singapore, Indonesia, South Korea, Thailand and Malaysia. Moreover, it launched a major tourism promotional campaign earlier in the year that saw the giving out of discounted plane tickets and reduced hotel rates.
