Macau strikes gold with record tourist numbers during holiday
Almost 1m mainlanders visited in first week of October, with total daily traffic for all tourists reaching an all-time peak of over 190,000 on the third day of the national holiday
Macau tourism numbers hit a record high during China’s “golden week” holiday and analysts say the welcome data could indicate the gaming hub’s run of bad luck is turning.
Almost one million mainland Chinese tourists descended on the former Portuguese enclave famous for its casinos during the first week of October, with total daily traffic for all tourists reaching an all-time peak of over 190,000 on the third day of the national holiday.
Macau is the only place in China to allow gambling and has a population of 600,000 which was boosted by almost a third on the busiest day.
The high visitor numbers translated into a 10 per cent rise in gross gaming revenue for the first 10 days of October worth 9.8 billion Macau pataca (HK$9.5 billion), according to a note led by Goldman Sachs’ analyst Simon Cheung.
The rise continues the momentum seen in September, when gross gaming revenue rose 7 per cent year on year, the second consecutive month of growth after more than two years of declines, which many have attributed squarely to President Xi Jinping’s crackdown on corruption.
Mainland visitors were 7 per cent higher than last year, while overall visitors increased by 8 per cent to 1.15 million, Bank of America Merrill Lynch research headed by Billy Ng found.