Macau welcomed nearly 2.0 percent more visitors during the October Golden Week compared to pre-pandemic levels in 2019, as reported by the Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO) on Tuesday.
During the seven-day holiday period from October 1 to October 7 this year, the total number of visitors reached 993,117, surpassing the 974,337 recorded during the same period in 2019, based on MGTO’s archived data.
This year’s average daily visitor count for October break was 141,873, reflecting a 22.9 percent increase from the previous year.
Analyst Vitaly Umansky of Seaport Research Partners noted in a report on Monday, even before final figures were available from the last day of the holiday, that the daily average was “well above the 100,000 per day” that the Macao Government Tourism Office initially forecasted.
Mainland visitors accounted for 826,181 arrivals during this year’s festivities, representing 83.2 percent of the total. Visitors from Hong Kong made up 117,009 arrivals, or 11.8 percent of the total, according to MGTO data.
Umansky mentioned in his Monday update that for the first six days of the holiday, the average daily gross gaming revenue (GGR) was MOP1,080 million (over US$134 million), which was only 7 percent lower than the daily average during October Golden Week in 2019 (when VIP gaming accounted for over 35 percent of GGR) and reflected a 30 percent increase over the previous year.
According to JP Morgan Securities (Asia Pacific) Ltd., the daily GGR run-rate for the first six days of the holiday was at its highest level in five years, also estimated at MOP1.08 billion.
Additionally, Citigroup and CLSA Ltd reported in their recent notes—based on observations during the holidays—that both betting sizes and volumes were robust during the October Golden Week.
