Visitor arrivals up 20.7pc
Macau's visitor arrivals last month rose 20.7 per cent year on year to 2.66 million, despite Beijing's restrictions on mainlanders visiting the city. The number of mainland visitors increased 29.9 per cent to 1.53 million, according to government statistics. The number of Hong Kong visitors rose to 778,227, up 8.8 per cent from a year ago. Mainlanders accounted for 57.6 per cent of all visitors last month.
Retail sales jump year on year
Estimated retail sales for the second quarter rose 40 per cent year on year to 4.6 billion patacas, according to the Statistics and Census Service. But the estimated total for the second quarter represented a quarter-to-quarter increase of just 1 per cent. In the first half, retail sales in Macau amounted to 9.15 billion patacas, up 43 per cent year on year. About 44 per cent of retailers reported a quarter-to-quarter decline in their sales volume.
Taxi fare increase approved
The Transport Bureau has approved taxi operators' application to raise fares by about 20 per cent. Effective September 1, the flag-fall charge will be raised to 13 patacas from 11 patacas and the metered fare will be raised to 1.5 patacas per 230 metres from 1 pataca per 180 metres. Taxi operators applied for higher fares in May, citing surging oil prices.