Information from the Statistics and Census Service indicated that Macao registered 304,260 visitor arrivals in package tours in September 2008, down by 2.1% from a year earlier. Visitors from Southeast Asia (34,324) soared significantly by 80.0% year-on-year, while those from Mainland China (178,835) and Hong Kong (36,673) decreased by 6.4% and 1.7%. In the first nine months of 2008, visitor arrivals in package tours rose by 17.6% over the same period of 2007 to 3,496,930. The number of Macao residents travelling outbound in package tours increased by 19.0% year-on-year to 15,819 in September 2008. Mainland China (71.9%), Japan (10.1%) and Taiwan, China (5.4%) were the three most popular tour itineraries. In the first nine months of 2008, Macao residents travelling in package tours rose by 7.3% over the same period of 2007 to 170,142. Meanwhile, 30,903 residents travelled outbound under individual arrangements using services provided by travel agencies, down notably by 42.9% over September 2007. Hong Kong (44.6%), Mainland China (23.9%) and Taiwan, China (10.4%) were the major destinations. In the first nine months of 2008, outbound residents travelling under such arrangements dropped by 5.9% year-on-year to 286,204. At the end of September 2008, the total number of guest rooms available in the hotel sector grew by 1,073 (+6.8%) from a year earlier to 16,792 rooms. In September 2008, a total of 473,600 guests checked into hotels and similar establishments, down by 9.4% year-on-year; the majority of the guests came from Mainland China (41.7%) and Hong Kong (25.5%). The average hotel occupancy rate dropped by 4.7 percentage points to 66.8%, with 5-star hotels leading at 69.5%; in addition, the average length of stay of hotel guests extended by 0.1 night to 1.5 nights. Total number of hotel guests reached 4,815,712 in the first nine months of 2008, up by 14.2% over the same period of 2007. In the first nine months of 2008, visitor-guests staying in hotels accounted for 43.0% of the total number of tourists, up slightly from 42.9% in the corresponding period of 2007.
Is there anything wrong with this page?