Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that there were 218 travel agencies operating in 2019, down by 3 year-on-year. Number of employees rose by 131 year-on-year to 4,614, as some travel agencies hired more drivers to meet the increased demand for coach rental service with driver. Receipts and expenditure of the industry amounted to MOP 8.29 billion and MOP 7.79 billion respectively, representing decreases of 9.5% and 11.0% year-on-year.
With a decline in numbers of package tour visitors and outbound residents using services of travel agencies, receipts of travel agencies from Room Reservation Services (MOP 2.59 billion), Package Tours (MOP 2.17 billion) and Passenger Transport Ticketing (MOP 1.51 billion) fell by 11.2%, 12.6% and 14.7% year-on-year respectively. On the other hand, receipts from Rentals of Coaches with Driver (MOP 1.34 billion) increased by 10.8% year-on-year.
As regards expenditure, Purchase of Goods & Services and Commission dropped by 14.7% year-on-year to MOP 6.04 billion, of which expenditure on Room Reservation Services (MOP 2.47 billion), Package Tours (MOP 1.73 billion) and Passenger Transport Ticketing (MOP 1.46 billion) fell by 10.9%, 17.1% and 18.0% respectively. Meanwhile, Operating Expenses grew by 4.6% year-on-year to MOP 894 million, attributable to a 12.9% growth in expenditure on rentals of vehicles (MOP 446 million); however, expenses on maintenance & repairs (MOP 40.27 million) and market research & publicity (MOP 12.25 million) saw notable decreases of 30.1% and 38.3% respectively. Compensation of Employees rose by 4.8% year-on-year to MOP 858 million, with remuneration in cash constituting MOP 819 million (95.4% of total), an increase of 5.2%.
Analysed by size of travel agency, those with 50 or more persons engaged totalled 19, down by 1 year-on-year. Receipts of these travel agencies slid by 6.8% year-on-year to MOP 2.92 billion, which were mainly generated from Rentals of Coaches with Driver (MOP 968 million), Room Reservation Services (MOP 661 million) and Package Tours (MOP 607 million). Moreover, there were 14 travel agencies with 30 to 49 persons engaged, up by 1 year-on-year; their receipts edged down by 0.8% to MOP 2.02 billion, of which 60.8% came from Room Reservation Services (MOP 1.23 billion).
Travel agencies with 10 to 29 persons engaged increased by 7 year-on-year to 85. Receipts of these travel agencies fell by 11.8% year-on-year to MOP 2.53 billion as a consequence of the decreases in receipts from Package Tours (MOP 1.29 billion) and Passenger Transport Ticketing (MOP 588 million). Meanwhile, number of travel agencies with less than 10 persons engaged went down by 10 year-on-year to 100. Their receipts fell by 27.3% year-on-year to MOP 823 million, with those from Room Reservation Services (MOP 329 million) and Passenger Transport Ticketing (MOP 234 million) dropping by 23.7% and 33.2% respectively.
Despite a drop in receipts, Gross Value Added that measures the sectoral contribution to the economy increased by 10.6% year-on-year to MOP 1.37 billion, as a significant reduction was observed in expenditure on Purchase of Goods & Services and Commission. Gross Surplus rose by 21.9% year-on-year to MOP 512 million, driving up Gross Surplus Ratio (6.2%) and Gross Surplus-Expenditure Ratio (6.6%) by 1.6 percentage points and 1.8 percentage points respectively. On the other hand, Gross Fixed Capital Formation slid by 4.0% year-on-year to MOP 188 million on account of a decrease in acquisition of vehicles and shops by some travel agencies.
