The 1^st October National Day Golden Week (spanning eight days between 1^st – 8^th October) has concluded in the Mainland. Provisional statistics show that Macao welcomed over 156,000 visitors during the Golden Week, marking a year-on-year fall of 86.0% in average daily visitor arrivals during the Golden Week.

Overshadowed by the global impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, Macao recorded 156,000 total visitor arrivals during the 1^st October Golden Week this year. The city welcomed 145,000 visitors from the Mainland as the major source of visitors, which constituted 93.1% of total visitor arrivals with an 84.0% decline in average daily visitor arrivals from last year. Owing to measures implemented to curb the pandemic, Macao registered only 9,614 and 1,231 visitor arrivals from Hong Kong and Taiwan region respectively, as well as 13 visitor arrivals coming from international markets.

Despite measures against the pandemic and the fall of travel intentions among other factors, visitor arrivals from the Mainland have gradually risen in recent months as the pandemic situation became generally stable in Macao and the Mainland. The rebound is also attributed to Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO)’s active campaign to promote the reinstatement of travel permit issuance for Mainland residents to Macao as a safe and wonderful destination. From the first week after travel permit issuance was resumed up to the Golden Week, the average daily visitor arrivals rose from around 6,000 to nearly 20,000.

*Percentage of change in average daily visitor arrivals: Due to variation in the span of the Golden Weeks in 2020 and 2019 (eight days in 2020 and seven days in 2019), the percentage of change was calculated through a comparison between the average daily visitor arrivals during both 1^st October Golden Weeks in 2020 and 2019.

Decline in average occupancy rate of hotel establishments

Figures provided by industry operators revealed that local hotel establishments (hotels and guest houses) saw an average occupancy rate of 43.6% during the Golden Week, a year-on-year decrease of 50.4 percentage points. Up to date, the supply of local hotels and guest houses has reached a total of 42,441 rooms.

Industry figures show that the average occupancy rate of 5-Star hotels was 43.2%, down 52.0 percentage points. The average occupancy rate of 4-Star hotels was 45.2%, down 47.4 percentage points. The average occupancy rate of 3-Star hotels was 51.9%, down 42.8 percentage points. The average occupancy rate of 2-Star hotels was 21.4%, down 61.0 percentage points, whereas the average occupancy rate of guest houses dropped by 51.7 percentage points to 23.9%.

Decrease in average room rate of hotel establishments

The average room rate of hotel establishments (hotels and guest houses) in Macao was about 1,290.5 patacas during the Golden Week, a year-on-year decline of 30.0%. The average room rates of 5-Star and 4-Star hotels were around 1,634 patacas and 605.2 patacas respectively, down 26.9% and 49.4% respectively. The average room rates of 3-Star and 2-Star hotels were around 821.6 patacas and 285.7 patacas respectively, a decrease of 32.2% and 69.7%. The average room rate of local guest houses was around 240.3 patacas, down 65.7%.

Promotion for pandemic prevention

During the Golden Week, MGTO leveraged different channels to inform visitors various information about pandemic prevention and the latest situation, such as displaying “Pandemic prevention tips for Mainland visitors in Macao” on TV screens at the Gongbei Port immigration hall, posting pandemic prevention guidelines on MGTO’s website, publicizing information on pandemic prevention at MGTO’s Tourist Information counters at different ports of entry, calling for attention on pandemic prevention on MGTO’s Wechat and Weibo accounts, producing the graphic abstract of “Pandemic prevention tips for Mainland visitors in Macao” in addition to distributing leaflets at MGTO’s Tourist Information counters. Hotel establishments and other industry operators also assisted with related promotion.

Rigorous patrols

During the Golden Week, the Office stepped up patrols at various tourist spots, ports of entry and districts, besides taking concerted action with police authorities to combat illegal accommodation, with MGTO inspectors standing by round-the-clock. MGTO's tourism hotline (853) 2833 3000 maintained its 24-hour operator service.

Between 1^st and 8^th October, MGTO conducted 22 inspections at major ports of entry and tourist attractions. During inspections, no sign of irregularities was discovered.

MGTO also carried out one joint action against illegal accommodation with Public Security Police Force and did not discover any apartment allegedly operated as illegal accommodation during the action.

During the Golden Week, MGTO received five visitor complaints mainly about hotel service, room reservation and pandemic preventive measures.

MGTO will continue to promote among visitors the “Macao Ready Go!” online platform as well as the promotional information and special offers presented by the Macao SAR Government in partnership with Tencent, Alibaba, Trip.com, UnionPay International and Air Macau, with the aim to attract visitors for a vacation in Macao, stimulate increase in tourism expenditure and extend their length of stay in Macao, in turn gaining a momentum for various industries to move forward and revive the economy.