Tourism rises, gaming weakens: Macau surpasses 20M arrivals
Macau recorded more than 20 million visitor arrivals by 20 June, while hotel occupancy remained above 90 per cent across most categories and five-star room rates held broadly steady in May. The latest figures point to continued strength in the city’s tourism and hospitality sectors, even as gaming indicators showed signs of weakening.
Data released by the Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO), the Macau Hotel Association and local authorities showed that visitor numbers and hotel demand remained robust, even as gaming indicators weakened amid the ongoing FIFA World Cup and concerns over Typhoon Mekkhala.
Visitor arrivals surpass 20 million
Macau welcomed more than 20 million visitors between 1 January and 20 June, according to Public Security Police figures reported by local media. Authorities said Macau was receiving an average of 116,000 visitors per day, representing an increase of more than 10 per cent compared with the same period last year. The highest daily total so far this year was recorded on 2 May, when 248,000 people entered the special administrative region.
Mainland China remained the dominant source market, accounting for nearly three-quarters of all visitors. Overseas tourists represented 7 per cent of arrivals, while the remainder came from Hong Kong and Taiwan.
Among international visitors, South Korea accounted for approximately 20 per cent of overseas arrivals, while the remaining visitors mainly originated from Southeast Asian countries. Authorities also reported a 60 per cent increase in visitors from Thailand this year.
The strength of tourism demand was also evident during the mainland Chinese Labour Day holiday period. During the first five days of May, Macau recorded approximately 725,000 visitor arrivals from mainland China, an increase of nearly 7 per cent year-on-year, according to MGTO data.
Five-star hotels maintain room rates despite lower occupancy
Hotel performance remained resilient during May, particularly among Macau’s dominant five-star segment. The latest Macau Hotel Association survey, released by MGTO, showed that the average nightly rate for a five-star hotel room stood at MOP1,555.7 (US$192.6) in May, remaining largely flat year-on-year.
Occupancy at five-star properties reached 92.3 per cent, although this represented a decline of 2.4 percentage points compared with May 2025.
The survey covered 49 member hotels of the Macau Hotel Association, including 28 five-star properties. Most of these hotels operate within integrated resort complexes, while the remainder comprise four-star and three-star properties, some of which are also linked to casino resorts.
The stability in room pricing follows an improvement recorded earlier in the year. In March, five-star hotel rates registered a year-on-year increase, ending a run of 14 consecutive months of annual declines.
For the January to May period, five-star hotels reported an average room rate of MOP1,534.3 (US$189.9) and occupancy of 94.3 per cent, with the room rate unchanged and occupancy down 0.2 percentage points year-on-year.
Despite the resilience, room rates remain below pre-pandemic levels. The average rate for January to May was still 5.3 per cent lower than the MOP1,619.4 recorded during the same period in 2019.
Five-star hotels continue to dominate Macau’s accommodation market. According to the Statistics and Census Service, the city had approximately 26,300 five-star hotel rooms in April, representing nearly 58 per cent of the total 45,400 hotel rooms available across all categories. The number of five-star rooms increased by 1.1 per cent compared with April 2025.
Mixed performance across hotel categories
May hotel occupancy averaged 91.7 per cent across the surveyed properties, a decline of 1.7 percentage points from the previous year, while average room rates fell 1.1 per cent to MOP1,386.9 (US$171.6) from MOP1,402.6 (US$173.6) a year earlier. Occupancy levels nevertheless remained above 90 per cent across all hotel categories covered by the survey.
Four-star hotels were the only category to record higher occupancy, rising one percentage point year-on-year to 88 per cent. However, average room rates declined 2.7 per cent to MOP1,117.4 (US$138.3).
Three-star hotels posted the highest occupancy level among all categories at 95.1 per cent. Nevertheless, this represented a decline of 2.4 percentage points from the previous year. The segment also experienced the steepest room-rate reduction, with prices falling 6.7 per cent year-on-year to MOP891.8 (US$110.4).
Across all hotel categories, average room rates for the January to May period declined 0.2 per cent year-on-year to MOP1,369.0 (US$169.4), while occupancy remained broadly stable at 93.5 per cent, down only 0.2 percentage points.
Peninsula hotels face growing competition
Meanwhile, demand was weaker at some hotels in the Macau Peninsula’s community districts, in contrast to the more stable occupancy levels reported by higher-end properties and integrated resorts.
Macau Hotel Association president Wong Suk Yan said occupancy at some peninsula hotels fell to around 80 per cent during the three-day Dragon Boat Festival holiday period, as heavy rainfall affected travel demand.
According to Wong, hotels around local community districts recorded lower occupancy than a year earlier. Increased room supply and growing competition from neighbouring destinations such as Zhuhai and Hengqin have also weighed on performance.
“The local hotel market has been affected by the opening of several new hotels,” Wong said, adding that changing travel patterns have encouraged more visitors to stay in Zhuhai and Hengqin instead of Macau.
Hotels in areas such as NAPE and the older districts of Macau Peninsula were particularly affected. Wong said occupancy in these locations averaged around 80 per cent during the first half of the year, while room rates declined between 5 per cent and 6 per cent year-on-year.
By contrast, higher-end hotels in Cotai experienced more stable occupancy levels.
Wong expects occupancy at some Macau Peninsula hotels to reach approximately 90 per cent during the summer holiday period, supported by promotional campaigns designed to encourage longer stays. These include discounted second and third nights as well as food and beverage offers aimed at family travellers.
She added that mainland China remained the primary source market for hotels. Travellers from Zhuhai, Hengqin and other Greater Bay Area cities accounted for nearly 40 per cent of guests, while longer-distance mainland visitors represented around 20 per cent. South Korea remained the largest international source market, followed by visitors from destinations including the Philippines.
The industry also plans to participate in tourism promotion activities in Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia in August to attract more visitors from Southeast Asia.
Gaming indicators soften despite tourism growth
While tourism and hotel indicators remained strong, recent data pointed to softer performance in Macau’s gaming sector. According to figures cited by Hong Kong-based financial information provider AAStocks, all key indicators in the city’s premium mass-market gaming segment declined 38 per cent year-on-year in June, reaching a post-pandemic low.
Player turnover declined 29 per cent year-on-year, while average premium bets fell 13 per cent to HK$21,775 (US$2,777).
Analysts attributed part of the weakness to the ongoing FIFA World Cup, which they said had diverted attention and spending away from casino gaming.
In a research note, Citigroup said: “We attribute the year-on-year weakness to the ongoing World Cup, which might have diverted away some of the gaming focus of some players.”
Market performance has also varied among operators. MGM China reported a 10 per cent year-on-year increase in first-quarter revenue, although its VIP gaming segment declined 5.2 per cent. SJM Holdings reported a 21 per cent decline in revenue at the end of the first quarter, while VIP room sales increased at casinos operated by Galaxy Entertainment.
The sector is also monitoring the progress of Typhoon Mekkhala, which began affecting coastal areas on 23 June as it moved north towards Japan. Although visitor arrivals remained at 130,000 on 21 June, typhoons have historically caused significant disruption to Macau’s tourism and casino industries.
The latest figures suggest that while visitor arrivals and hotel demand continue to recover strongly, the benefits are not being felt evenly across all segments of Macau’s tourism and gaming economy.
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