As the National Day Golden Week holiday comes to an end, preliminary figures show that visitor arrivals to Macau surpassed 680,000, an increase of nearly 13% compared to the same period of last year. Among the total arrivals, more than 470,000 were from the Mainland, a surge of 12.38%. Total visitor arrivals during the National Day Golden Week holiday period this year (1-7 October) reached 685,056, 12.94% more than the figure during the National Day Golden Week holiday period last year. 630,000 visitors came from Greater China with a 14% growth, among which, close to 480,000 were from the Mainland, an increase of 12.38%, while visitors from Hong Kong exceeded 140,000, a significant growth of 22.27%. International visitors also surpassed 480,000, with a slight increase of 0.32%. Performance of the hotel industry of Macau was satisfactory during the National Day Golden Week holiday. Average occupancy rate of three-to-five-star hotels reached 90%, a 2.7 percentage points increase compared to the same period of last year. The daily average number of occupied rooms of three-to-five-star hotels was 17,236, increasing by 14.89%. The average room rate of three-to-five-star hotels was 1,422 patacas, up 16% on the Golden Week period of last year. The average occupancy rate of hotels saw a rise during the National Day Golden Week holiday. The average occupancy rate of three-star hotels hit 91.36% (+1.23 percentage points), while that of four-star hotels reached 86.86% (+4.54 percentage points) and five-star hotels hit 91.77% (+2.32 percentage points). The average room rate of different categories of hotels and guesthouses in Macau also increased, with the average room rate of guesthouses in these seven days registering 272 patacas (+16%), two-star hotels 506 patacas (+4.56%), three-star hotels 1,226 patacas (+18.63%), four-star hotels 1,087 patacas (+20.91%) and five-star hotels 1,954 patacas (+11.92%). From October 1 to 7, Macau Government Tourist Office (MGTO), together with Guangdong Provincial Tourism Administration and Fujian Provincial Tourism Administration operated the tourism notification system, which together with the close collaboration among various departments and the support of tourism and related entities, helped to enhance the hospitality of the city to welcome visitors during the Golden Week. During the golden week period, MGTO inspectors intensified surveillance at Macau's most visited sites and border checkpoints, as well as carried on with the operations against illegal accommodation. MGTO and Legal Affairs Bureau (DSAJ) cooperated in a new promotion and education campaign against illegal accommodation, launched on October 1. Besides distributing flyers of the new campaign at MGTO information counters and immigration counters, MGTO received the support of Guangdong Provincial Tourism Administration for promotion and education initiatives in the source market, to safeguard the rights of the visitors. Macau Consumer Council also carried out promotions on the topic with its Mainland counterparts. During the Golden Week holiday, MGTO information counters and the tourism hotline 28 333 000 continued to operate. The tourism hotline was attended by operators around the clock. This press release is available at: www.macautourism.gov.mo
