Macau Golden Week visitor numbers beat pre-pandemic levels, gaming revenue soars

Macau’s visitor numbers during the October Golden Week holiday surpassed pre-pandemic levels, with the city’s tourism tally reaching 993,117, according to data from the Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO). The figure is 2% higher than the 974,337 visitors recorded during the same period in 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic.

The daily average for this year’s holiday, which ran from October 1 to October 7, was 141,873, up 22.9% compared to last year. Visitors from mainland China made up the bulk of arrivals, totaling 826,181, or 83.2% of the total, while 11.8% of visitors were from Hong Kong.

Analysts also pointed to strong gross gaming revenue (GGR) figures. The daily average GGR for the first six days of the break reached MOP1.08 billion ($134 million), just 7% lower than the same period in 2019, despite a notable reduction in VIP play. This year’s GGR performance marked a 30% increase over last year’s Golden Week.

“The daily visitor numbers exceeded the initially forecasted 100,000 per day,” said Vitaly Umansky of Seaport Research Partners in a note, highlighting stronger-than-expected tourist activity. 

JP Morgan Securities (Asia Pacific) Ltd also reported that the GGR daily run rate for the first six days was the highest in five years. Field visits by Citigroup and CLSA Ltd during the holiday noted that both bet sizes and bet volumes were robust, underscoring a positive outlook for Macau’s gaming sector recovery.