A 10.4 per cent increase in travellers from mainland China drove Macau’s total visitation to 16.7 million for the first seven months of the year.
In July alone, more than 1.6 million Chinese visited Macau from the mainland, a 14 per cent increase over July 2012. Guangdong province accounted for the lion’s share at 738,106, followed by Fujian at 74,292.
Travellers on the Individual Visit Scheme made up 44 per cent of the total. In all, July’s visitation was up 4.9 per cent to 2.6 million, with the average length of stay unchanged from a year earlier at one day. Overnight and same-day visitors stayed an average of 1.9 days and 0.2 days, respectively.
Figures compiled by the government’s Statistics and Census Bureau show the total for January to July surpassing the same period last year by 4.3 per cent, with mainland China the source of 63.2 per cent of all visits. Hong Kong, which accounts for 23.7 per cent of total visits, was down 3.8 per cent to 3.9 million.
Taiwan accounted for the biggest relative drop among top feeder markets, down 10.5 per cent to 549,298. Philippines visitation was down 3.4 per cent and Japanese visitation was down 34 per cent.
The continued surge in mainland visitation was reflected in a record one-day total of 320,000 entries and exits through the Gongbei border gate on August 25. Fifty-three percent of the crossings originated in mainland China, 44 per cent in Macau and Hong Kong. It was the eighth consecutive weekend of 300,000 or more crossings and is believed to be driven by a combination of improved transportation via the Guangzhou-Zhuhai Intercity Railway and a more relaxed visa policy.
