Per capita spending of visitors to Macau soared by 77.4% year-on-year to MOP$3,129 (US$392) in the three months to 31 December 2020, with retail outlets enjoying the benefits thanks to a surge in shopping spend.
The figures suggest a higher quality of visitor during the quarter, although significantly lower overall visitor numbers meant that total spend excluding gaming expenses fell 63.8% compared with 4Q19 to MOP$5.88 billion (US$736 million).
Almost 65% of spending was on shopping, which jumped by 158% year-on-year to MOP$2,008 (US$251) per person. Of that, spending on cosmetics and perfume grew by 124.1% to MOP$795 (US$100), clothing by 433.6% to MOP$363 (US$45) and handbags and shoes by 662.5% to MOP$317 (US$40).
Those in Macau for the purpose of gaming spent the most with per capita spending, excluding actual gaming spend, up 1,433% to MOP$6,835 (US$856) while those in Macau for vacation spent an average of MOP$5,981 (US$749) and for shopping MOP$3,849 (US$482).
For all of 2020, total spending of visitors fell by 81.4% year-on-year to MOP$11.94 billion (US$1.50 billion) due to the number of visitor arrivals dropping by 85.0%. However, per capita spend of visitors increased by 24.5% year-on-year to MOP$2,025 (US$254).