VISITORS Q3 SPENDING UP 5PCT TO MOP15.5BLN

2014/11/20

From:Macau Business Daily

But per capita spending of visitors, even from the highest spending group of mainland Chinese, has posted a decline over the year, official data shows.

The city saw a nearly 5 percent increase in inbound visitor spending of MOP15.5 billion patacas (US$1.9 billion) for the third quarter this year but a decline was recorded in per capita spending of visitors – in particular, the highest spending mainland China visitors travelling to Macau in the three-month period.
While Macau recorded an 11 percent year-on-year increase in the number of inbound visitors at 8.2 million for the third quarter, visitors’ expenses here, excluding those on gaming activities, amounted to MOP15.5 billion, representing a rise of 4.6 percent compared to the same period last year, latest data released by the Statistics and Census Service shows.
The government data shows that the per capita spending of visitors during the period was down by a slight one percent year-on-year to MOP1,878, whilst short-haul visitors from Asia, especially from China, Japan, Singapore and Malaysia, actually spent more than their long-haul counterparts.
The highest spending group were the mainland Chinese, whose per capita spending in the third quarter reached MOP2,220, representing a 4 percent drop year-on-year, even though expenditure by those travelling under the individual visit scheme (IVS) grew 7 percent to MOP2,758.
But of the 8.2 million visitors coming to Macau in the third quarter, of which nearly 68 percent or 5.6 million were from the mainland, visitors from Guangdong Province still comprised a significant part of overall mainland Chinese visitors at around 42 percent, the official visitor arrivals record shows. Guangdong visitors are also the group that are mostly likely to travel to Hong Kong and Macau on a same-day basis.
The latest official data noted that the per capita spending of same-day mainland visitors travelling here under the IVS scheme was MOP1,185, down 4 percent compared to a year before; for overall same-day visitors from the mainland, per capita spend in the period was MOP707, nearly 12 percent less than a year before.
Nearly half of visitors’ expenditure here in the third quarter went on shopping, in particular jewellery and watches, food products, handbags and shoes; while 26 percent of visitors’ spending was on accommodation.
Overall, the per capital spending for visitors staying overnight in Macau was MOP3,310 in the third quarter, which is a year-on-year rise of 4 percent; same-day visitors’ spending here in the period was down by 8 percent to only MOP599.
Japanese visitors travelling here followed the Chinese as the second-highest per capita spending group at MOP1,954, which is even higher than Singaporean visitors at MOP1,927 per capita.
For long-haul visitors travelling here, those from the UK had a relatively high per capita spend, which grew sharply by 38 percent to MOP1,563; visitors from Australia spent 21 percent more than a year before at MOP1,498, official data shows.
Less than half of the visitors surveyed in the third quarter said Macau had sufficient attractions, the Statistics and Census Service noted in the visitors’ spending data.
The Macau Government Tourist Office announced recently that its long-term strategy is to boost local tourism attractions to add more “walking tour routes”, namely routes designed to diversify the flow of visitors away from overcrowded destinations such as Leal Senado Square in San Ma Lou.
A survey conducted by the Office to gauge public perception of the walking tour routes plan, released in late September, reveals that there are concerns about the negative impact such a plan can impose on the transport system in the city – a finding, however, that does not alter MGTO’s plan to continue expanding the walking tour routes.
The transport service is the category which inbound visitors are least satisfied with and demand improvement from, the census said in its third quarter report on visitor spending. The bureau also asked visitors about their level of satisfaction regarding hotels, gaming facilities, restaurants, shopping outlets, and environmental hygiene.

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