GGRAsia – High hotel occupancy expected for rest of Dec: MGTO

High hotel occupancy expected for rest of Dec: MGTO

Dec 16, 2024 Newsdesk Latest News, Macau, Top of the deck

Macau’s average hotel occupancy rate – which reached “90 percent” last week – is likely to remain at a high level amid the festive break encompassing Christmas and New Year’s eve, suggested the director of Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO), Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes.

She made the remarks on Sunday in an interview with the Chinese radio service of public broadcaster TDM.

The MGTO director was cited as saying that various celebratory events scheduled for the Christmas season, as well as other events to mark the 25th anniversary of Macau’s handover, should help boost the city’s inbound visitor volume.

In December last year, the average occupancy rate of Macau’s three- to five-star hotels reached 91.2 percent, showed data from the Macau Hotel Association. Five-star hotels, mostly housed in casino complexes, recorded an occupancy rate of 91.5 percent in December 2023, with an average rate of MOP1,773.2 (US$221.4).

Ms Senna Fernandes also said the government was “confident” in reaching “33 million” visitors this year.

“The question is whether we can reach further at 34 million, or a bit more. Hopefully within the remaining half of this month we’ll have good news to tell,” she added.

Inbound visitor volume exceeded 32.5 million as of December 7, a 25.7-percent year-on-year increase, according to data from the city’s Public Security Police Force.

The Macau tourism authority has, in several previous occasions, spoken of its policy to diversify its visitor source and attract more tourists from “international” markets, known as those from outside the Greater China region.

MGTO plans to continue offering flight promotions targeted at international visitors next year, Ms Senna Fernandes stated.

“As for international visitors, the number has already exceeded 2 million” so far this year, she added.