The July tally for Macau visitor arrivals was nearly 2.92 million, up by 4.4 percent compared to the prior-year period, according to data released on Thursday by the city’s Statistics and Census Service.
The number of recorded overnight visitors grew 10.6 percent in year-on-year terms to just under 1.61 million in July. There was a 2.3-percent year-on-year decline in the aggregate of same-day visitors, to just shy of 1.31 million.
The average length of stay of visitors remained at 1.2 days, similar to that in July 2016. The length of stay of overnight and same-day visitors were 2.1 and 0.2 days respectively.
The number of mainland Chinese visitors to Macau in July was nearly 2.02 million, with 991,560 travelling under the Individual Visit Scheme. The two figures rose by 9.6 percent and 12.8 percent respectively, compared to the prior-year period.
Guangdong province was Macau’s largest single source of mainland tourists in July, with 839,456 arrivals. Hunan and Fujian provinces contributed respectively 97,016 and 84,239 visitors.
The number of visitors from Hong Kong and Taiwan – the second- and third-most important source markets respectively – dropped 9.6 percent and 0.3 percent respectively in July, to 559,421 and 102,990. But there was a 42.6 percent year-on-year increase in July in the number of visitors from South Korea, with the tally reaching 74,129.
Helena de Senna Fernandes, director of the Macao Government Tourism Office, on Tuesday said her department expected Macau’s visitor arrivals would continue to rise judged year-on-year, for the remainder of the summer.
“We would expect a single-digit increase,” she stated.
