Likely 3-5 pct rise in summer visitor tally: Macau official

Jul 12, 2018 Newsdesk Latest News, Macau, Top of the deck  

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Macau might see a “3 percent to 5 percent” increase year-on-year in its visitor tally for the peak summer holiday period of July and August, said Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes, director of the Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO). The official also expected the city’s average hotel occupancy to exceed 90 percent during those two months.

The combined tally of Macau visitor arrivals for July and August 2017 was 5.78 million, according to the Statistics and Census Service. The visitor aggregate for August that year saw a slight year-on-year decrease attributed by the statistics bureau to the impact of Typhoon Hato. The storm, the strongest in half a century caused widespread damage to infrastructure in the city and temporary suspension of operations at some of the city’s gaming venues.

The estimate made for Macau-bound visitors for the upcoming summer vacation period was based on the growth trend – especially that relating to travellers  from mainland China, a key market – during the past few months this year, Ms Fernandes remarked to local media on the sidelines of a Wednesday event.

The tally of visitor arrivals from all source markets during January to May this year grew by 7.8 percent year-on-year to 14.21 million. Mainland China accounted for 70 percent of the total, according to official data. The number of mainland Chinese visitors that came to Macau during the period reached 9.95 million, representing an increase of 13.2 percent compared to the prior-year period.

“We hope that we can also put forward more campaigns that promote travel packages themed at both Macau and the [Guandong-Hong Kong-Macau] Greater Bay Area. So this is not merely promoting Macau, but also responding to [China’s] national policy on the Greater Bay Area initiative,” Ms Fernandes told media on Wednesday.

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