Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that total spending (excluding gaming expenses) of visitors was MOP16.42 billion in the first quarter of 2018, up by 22.0% year-on-year. Compared with the fourth quarter of 2017, total visitor spending dropped by 9.7% due to the decline in number of visitor arrivals and their per-capita spending. Total spending of overnight visitors (MOP12.68 billion) and same-day visitors (MOP3.74 billion) increased by 19.6% and 30.7% respectively year-on-year.
In the first quarter of 2018, per-capita spending of visitors was MOP1,921, up by 12.4% year-on-year but down by 7.3% quarter-to-quarter. Per-capita spending of visitors from Mainland China increased by 11.6% year-on-year to MOP2,234, with spending of those from Guangdong Province (MOP1,966) and Fujian Province (MOP1,327) rising by 20.6% and 2.8% respectively. Mainland visitors travelling under the Individual Visit Scheme (IVS) spent an average of MOP2,558, up by 18.8% year-on-year. Per-capita spending of visitors from Singapore (MOP1,948), Malaysia (MOP1,712) and Taiwan (MOP1,652) grew by 6.7%, 5.4% and 2.8% respectively year-on-year. Meanwhile, spending of long-haul visitors from Australia (MOP1,493) and the United States (MOP1,333) went up by 8.7% and 10.1% respectively, whereas spending of those from the United Kingdom (MOP961) dropped by 14.1%.
Per-capita spending of overnight visitors rose by 8.6% year-on-year to MOP2,928. Overnight visitors from Mainland China spent an average of MOP3,312 (+6.5%), with IVS visitors spending MOP3,693 (+15.8%). Per-capita spending of overnight visitors from Singapore (MOP3,027) and Taiwan (MOP3,129) went up by 10.8% and 8.1% respectively. Meanwhile, per-capita spending of same-day visitors increased by 22.2% year-on-year to MOP886; same-day visitors from Mainland China spent an average of MOP1,102 (+23.7%), with IVS visitors spending MOP1,644 (+22.5%).
With regard to type of spending, visitors spent mainly on shopping (47.3% of total), accommodation (23.3%) and food & beverage (22.0%) in the first quarter of 2018. Per-capita shopping spending of visitors rose by 21.7% year-on-year to MOP910, of which spending on local food products (MOP290) and cosmetics & perfume (MOP243) grew by 24.8% and 20.8% respectively. Analysed by main purpose of visit, visitors coming to Macao for MICE events had higher per-capita spending (MOP2,908), followed by those coming for shopping (MOP2,596) and for vacation (MOP2,500).
Regarding visitors’ comments, visitor satisfaction towards all aspects of services and facilities in the first quarter of 2018 registered increases as compared to the fourth quarter of 2017. The proportion of visitors who complimented on the services and facilities of hotels (86.7%) edged up by 0.8 percentage points quarter-to-quarter, and the shares of those who were satisfied with environmental hygiene (83.4%), services of retail shops (79.4%) and public facilities (79.1%) rose by 4.9 percentage points, 1.4 percentage points and 4.4 percentage points respectively. The proportion of visitors who were satisfied with the services of public transport (68.8%) was relatively low, despite a quarter-to-quarter increase of 5.3 percentage points. On the other hand, only 56.5% of the visitors considered that there were adequate points of tourist attractions in Macao, a 4.3 percentage points increase over the previous quarter.