Macau’s tourism industry continued its strong recovery in 2023 with visitor arrivals reaching 28.2 million, representing 71.6% of the pre-pandemic levels when the city welcomed 39.4 million tourists.
Data from the Statistics and Census Service shows that Mainland China remains Macau’s key source market, accounting for 67.5% of the total. There were 19,049,147 Mainland China visitors to Macau in 2023, a steep rise of 273.1% compared to the previous year. The number of visitors traveling under the Individual Visit Scheme stood at 10,634,155, up by 532.3%.
Hong Kong represented 25.5% of the total number of visitors to Macau last year, reaching 7,195,801 – an increase of +1,301.5%.
Macau saw the return of international tourists in 2023, with 1,459,566 arrivals. The number of international visitors surged by +10,589.7%, against a low base in 2022.
Visitor numbers from Mainland China, Hong Kong and international sources in 2023 reached 68.2%, 97.8% and 47.6% of the corresponding levels in pre-pandemic 2019.
Vibrant arrivals numbers don’t always translate to rising spend levels, however.
The value of retail sales in Q3 dipped by -5.9% quarter-on-quarter. Importantly, sales values of department stores and leathergoods registered respective decreases of -12.2% and -10.6%, according to Macau government.
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