How Macau is Getting Back on Track

After facing an extended period of decline, Macau finally appears to be seeing some growth.

Last week, the Macau Government’s Tourism Department hosted an annual press conference, where multiple statistics were shared. According to one of the statistics cited, Macau had experienced tremendous growth n 2016. It has been estimated that around 30.95 million people had visited the gambling destination, which indicates an increase of .8% compared to the previous year.

The main speaker for the conference was Director Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes, who, in her speech, mentioned that Macau saw a year-on-year increase in visitors despite the economy being adjusted for 2016. This included both, international and overall visitor numbers, with international visitor numbers alone showing an increase of 8%. The director also mentioned that there was an increase in overnight visitors as well, compared to same-day visitors. To be specific, the rate of increase was estimated to be around 10%.

Most of the visitors who come to Macau come from neighboring regions such as Mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Korea. Korea ranked the highest with an estimated 660, 000 visitors heading to Macau; that is a 20% increase in Korean visitors.

A lot of visitors also came from Southeast Asia.

The conference was attended by 400 delegates who came from diverse backgrounds including the travel and trade industry. Members of the local and non-local press were also present, accounting for 80 of the 400 delegates present.

In wake of last year’s positive performance, Macau is now planning to make the most of this month’s Chinese New Year celebrations. In fact, all the major hotels in the Cotai Strip have reported 100% bookings for the third, fourth, and fifth days of the celebrations.

According to data provided by online booking applications, it has been found that of 23 major casino hotels in Macau, 80% have been completely booked from January 30^th to February 1^st. Sands China, which operates hotels known for their large room inventory, reported 100% bookings. The same was observed with Wynn Macau and Wynn Palace.

The data also showed an increase in advance booking numbers compared to the October Golden Week in 2016.