Hotel costs help boost Macau tourism price index in 3Q

Oct 17, 2017 Newsdesk Latest News, Macau, Top of the deck  

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Macau’s tourist price index recorded a year-on-year increase of 2.17 percent in the third quarter of 2017 to 129.61 points, according to data released on Monday by the city’s Statistics and Census Service.

The index reflects price changes in goods and services typically purchased by visitors, but excludes gaming. It was the second year-on-year increase for the quarterly index since the second quarter of 2015. The previous such increase was in the second quarter this year.

The statistics bureau said the latest increase was attributable to dearer prices of local food products, rising taxi fares, and increased charges for hotel accommodation and restaurant services.

The sub-index of accommodation increased by 6.75 percent year-on-year and 10.68 percent quarter-on-quarter, but was still down 5.90 percent on an annualised basis.

Data from the Macau Hotel Association show that the average hotel room rate in August – the most recent available data – was MOP1,326.8 (US$165), representing a year-on-year increase of 7.0 percent.

For calendar year to September 30, the tourism price index went down by 0.9 percent year-on-year, according to Monday’s data.

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