The Macau government has projected the city could get as many as 46.43 million visitors annually by 2030, about 33-percent more than 2024’s figure of 34.93 million. Citywide, the number of hotel rooms is forecast to grow by nearly 8 percent, to over 52,000, compared to 2024’s tally of 48,333 rooms.
That is according to the estimates included in a review document – published on Tuesday – of Macao Government Tourism Office’s (MGTO’s) latest “tourism industry development master plan”. MGTO commissioned Deloitte Advisory Services Ltd to review the master plan.
Macau is expected to record 38.95 million visitor arrivals in 2025, and in the range of 39.47 million to 46.43 million in 2030, according to the report.
There is little change anticipated, regarding percentage contribution of overnight visitors to Macau’s tourism market between 2024 and up to 2030.
In 2024, Macau had 16.04 million overnight visitors, i.e., 45.9 percent of the 34.93-million aggregate visitor volume.
In 2025, Macau is projected to receive 16.39 million overnight visitors, representing circa 42.1 percent of the forecast 39 million arrivals. In 2030, Macau might receive between 18.22 million and 21.85 million overnight visitors, accounting for either circa 46 percent or circa 47 percent of the projected overall visitor volume, the report on the master plan indicates.
The study team also expected Macau’s hotel inventory to expand to just over 49,000 rooms by year-end 2025, and to be in the range of 52,228 to 52,849 rooms by 2030. The latter range would represent an 8.1-percent to 9.3-percent growth to the city’s 48,933 rooms recorded as of 2024, according to the forecast data.
The study team has projected average stay length in 2030 for overnighters might reach 2.5 days, versus 2.3 days in 2024.
Visitors’ non-gaming average spend is forecast to grow by 13.4 percent to MOP85.47 billion (US$10.7 billion) in 2025 versus last year’s MOP75.36 billion. The study suggests an average in the range of MOP94.37 billion to MOP111 billion in 2030.
In the report, the study team concluded that a key challenge to Macau’s tourism business is that the city’s visitor source market remains “undiversified”.
In the first eight months of this year, Macau recorded 26.9 million visitor arrivals, of which 72.8 percent – or nearly 19.59 million – were generated from mainland China, according to the latest data from the city’s Statistics and Census Service. In the same period, as much as 93.6 percent of Macau’s aggregate visitor tally was from the Greater China region, when counting people from Hong Kong and Taiwan as well as those from the Chinese mainland.
The study team said regarding Macau’s latest tourism master plan: “Moving forward, while consolidating and ensuring continued growth in the Greater China region, Macau will actively expand its overseas markets and attract potential visitor segments such as wedding [parties], transit travellers, and Generation Z,” consumers, a reference to a marketing term for people born between circa 1997 and 2012.
The review team added: “The goal is to encourage visitors to extend their length of stay and increase their spending in Macau.”
To get more visitors from overseas, Macau should work on “optimising” its tourism products, including boosting the number of themed amusement facilities, sports events, music events and low-cost accommodation choices, according to the report.
