The average hotel room rate in Macau recorded a 5.9 percent increase during Chinese New Year compared with the same period in 2017, according to data complied by the Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO).
The average daily cost of a Macau hotel room during the Chinese New Year holiday period – from February 15 to 21 – was MOP1,951.8 (US$242.2), MGTO said in a press release on Thursday.
The average room price in the five-star hotel segment rose by 5.1 percent compared to the prior-year period to MOP2,195.2; rooms in the four-star category recorded an average rate of MOP1,636.8, up by 7.6 percent year-on-year. The average room price of three-star hotels during Chinese New Year recorded a 5.4 percent year-on-year increase to MOP1,546.1.
The average occupancy rate of Macau hotels during the holiday period remained unchanged in year-on-year terms at 94.5 percent. Macau currently offers more than 39,000 hotel rooms.
In the five-star and four-star hotel segments, the average occupancy rates for Chinese New Year stood at 95.9 percent and 94.4 percent respectively, a growth of 0.4 percentage points and 1.6 percentage points compared to the same period a year ago.
The average occupancy rate of three-star hotels in Macau dropped by 4.1 percentage points year-on-year to 92.1 percent.
The Chinese New Year period is usually a peak season for Macau’s gaming industry as hundreds of thousands of mainland Chinese tourists take advantage of the week-long break to visit the city.
Overnight visitors to Macau are a segment generally regarded as of higher value to the local casino industry than day-trippers. But several investment analysts have said that Macau’s headline visitor numbers historically are not directly correlated to overall gaming demand, as gross gaming revenue in the Macau market has been typically skewed to high-end play.
The tourism bureau had reported earlier on Thursday a 6.5 percent year-on-year increase in visitor arrivals to Macau during the Chinese New Year holiday period to 963,265.
