The number of visitors arriving in Macau on package tours rose 27.8% to 912,000 in December, according to latest figures released by the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC). The surge included a 32.1% increase in visitors from mainland China to 746,000, while visitation from Korea and Taiwan grew 23.8% (45,000) and 34.8% (52,000) respectively. For full year 2017, visitors on package tours totaled 8.63 million, an increase of 14.3% year-on-year.
Outbound residents using travel agencies increased by 7.9% year-on-year to 131,000 in December 2017, with the number of residents traveling on package tours up by 7.5% to 56,000. Those going to Mainland China (38,000) grew by 12.3%. The full year figure saw an 11.2% increase to 1.39 million.
There were 111 hotels and guesthouses operating at the end of December 2017, an increase of four year-on-year. The number of guest rooms grew by 2.3% year-on-year to 37,000, with those of 5-star hotels (22,000) accounting for 60.1% of the total.
As a result, the number of guests of hotels and guesthouses in December 2017 rose by 2.5% year-on-year to 1.2 million. Guests coming from mainland China (798,000) and the Republic of Korea (42,000) increased by 10.7% and 23.8% respectively year-on-year, while those from Hong Kong (140,000) and Taiwan (40,000) dropped by 23.0% and 12.6% respectively. The average length of stay of guests held steady year-on-year at 1.4 nights.
The average occupancy rate of hotels and guesthouses stood at 92.5%, up 2.8% year-on-year, with 5-star hotels (94.7%) and 4-star hotels (94.4%) recording relatively high rates in December, up by 4.8% and 1.7% respectively year-on-year.
For full year 2017, guests of hotels and guesthouses reached 13.16 million, a 9.6% year-on-year increase. Guests from mainland China grew 13.5% year-on-year to 8.64 million, with Korea (501,000) and Taiwan (493,000) surging 64.7% and 3.5% respectively. The average length of stay of guests went up by 0.1 nights year-on-year to 1.5 nights.