Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that attributable to a growth of 21.2% in visitor arrivals (10,359,758), total spending (excluding gaming expenses) of visitors in the first quarter of 2019 increased by 3.1% year-on-year to MOP16.93 billion, with that of overnight visitors (MOP12.92 billion) and same-day visitors (MOP4.01 billion) rising by 1.9% and 7.2% respectively.
Per-capita spending of visitors continued to record year-on-year decrease, down by 14.9% to MOP1,634 in the first quarter. Per-capita spending of visitors from Mainland China dropped by 17.2% to MOP1,849; spending of those from Guangdong Province (MOP1,789) and Fujian Province (MOP1,140) fell by 9.0% and 14.1% respectively. Mainland visitors travelling under the Individual Visit Scheme (IVS) spent an average of MOP2,317, representing a drop of 9.4% year-on-year. Per-capita spending of visitors from Singapore (MOP1,682) and Taiwan (MOP1,460) registered decline, whereas spending of those from Japan (MOP1,612) and the Republic of Korea (MOP1,429) rose by 5.5% and 2.9% respectively. On the other hand, per-capita spending of long-haul visitors from the United States (MOP1,369) and the United Kingdom (MOP1,051) saw year-on-year growth, while spending of those from Australia (MOP1,376) decreased.
Overnight visitors spent an average of MOP2,729, down by 6.8% year-on-year; per-capita spending of those from Mainland China (MOP3,027) and Taiwan (MOP2,940) decreased by 8.6% and 6.0% respectively. Meanwhile, per-capita spending of same-day visitors dropped by 19.7% to MOP712; spending of those from Mainland China (MOP838) declined by 24.0%, and that of IVS visitors (MOP1,291) fell by 21.5%.
In terms of spending, visitors spent primarily on shopping (48.4% of total), accommodation (25.1%) and food & beverage (18.9%). Per-capita shopping spending of visitors decreased by 13.2% year-on-year to MOP790, with spending on local food products (MOP234) and cosmetics & perfume (MOP220) falling by 19.2% and 9.7% respectively. Analysed by main purpose of visit, per-capita spending of visitors coming for MICE events (MOP4,358) surged by 49.8%, whereas spending of those coming for shopping (MOP2,549) and vacation (MOP2,172) dropped by 1.8% and 13.1% respectively.
Regarding visitors’ comments in the first quarter of 2019, the proportion of visitors who were satisfied with the services of hotels (88.8%) edged down by 0.6 percentage points quarter-to-quarter. Meanwhile, the shares of visitors who complimented on environmental hygiene (84.9%), services of travel agencies (84.3%), services of retail shops (83.4%) and public facilities (82.5%) rose by 0.8 percentage points, 1.7 percentage points, 1.2 percentage points and 2.0 percentage points respectively quarter-to-quarter. Besides, 61.2% of the visitors considered that there were adequate points of tourist attractions in Macao, up by 1.5 percentage points quarter-to-quarter, and 7.5% considered that public transport services should be improved.
Detailed information is available in statistical tables and the Statistics Database on the DSEC website (www.dsec.gov.mo).
