To achieve the work goals mapped out by the Policy Address of 2025, including elevating the competitive strengths of the integrated tourism and leisure industries, fostering the concerted development of “tourism +” and uncovering the potential of international visitor markets, Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO) has been working together with industry operators to deepen integration between tourism and the other sectors of gastronomy, MICE, events, sports and so forth, while forging ahead with destination marketing around the world to showcase Macao’s unique glamour as a world centre of tourism and leisure.
Steady revival in tourism
Preliminary statistics show that from January to October 2025, Macao registered 33 million visitor arrivals cumulatively, which saw a year-on-year rise of 14.1% and reached 99.3% of the level of the corresponding period in 2019. International visitor arrivals kept trending upward and topped 2.15 million, a year-on-year increase of 13.6%. Throughout the National Day Golden Week, average daily visitor arrivals reached 143,000 while the single-day volume of visitors topped 191,000 on 4 October, both of which reached an all-time high compared with the past National Day holidays. The hotel industry fared well with an average hotel occupancy rate of 89.3% from January to September, a year-on-year rise of 3.9 percentage points.
Tapping into diverse visitor markets
MGTO is actively tapping into international visitor markets by participating in international travel fairs and organizing promotions such as the Experience Macao events, while unveiling the vast market potential of Northeast Asia, Europe, Americas and the Middle East, joining hands with industry partners to build Macao into a Muslim-friendly destination. The mega promotional events in Malaysia, Japan, Korea, Thailand, Portugal, Indonesia and other parts of the world engaged 506,000 participants in total. To attract international visitors from Hong Kong to Macao, MGTO launched the special offer of free ferry and bus tickets, which benefited over 250,000 visitors between May and October 2025.
MGTO organized Macao Weeks and other promotional events to reinforce the contribution of visitor arrivals from the Chinese mainland market, while seizing the opportunities brought by the Central Government’s favorable policies for Macao and partnering with Guangdong and Hong Kong to promote multi-destination travel to the Greater Bay in overseas markets. Tourism promotional events were held in Frankfurt and London in mid-October to expand the international markets.
Promotions on new media appeal to young travelers
The aggregate count of followers for MGTO’ social media accounts has exceeded 10 million. The promotional event of “Enchanting Macao” and the international influencer event “CreatorWeek Macao 2025” were rolled out to brand Macao as a glamorous destination in the spotlight of creators and attract young travelers to Macao for vacation and spending.
Deepen integration across “tourism +” to enrich travelers’ experience
- Tourism + gastronomy: “2025 International Cities of Gastronomy Fest, Macao” engaged 92,000 participants and brought together 35 UNESCO Creative Cities of Gastronomy from worldwide in July, the highest number of participating cities from the Network since the first edition was held.
- Tourism + MICE: the 13th Macao International Travel (Industry) Expo was held in April. Exhibitors from 70 countries and regions set up a total of 1,502 booths, the highest record over the past editions. Close to 38,000 persons were admitted to the Expo. More than 16,000 business matching sessions were held while 59 contracts were signed.
- Tourism + events: the Office organized various spectacular events including the Chinese New Year Activities, Parade for Celebration of the Chinese New Year and the Chinese New Year Fireworks Displays – the three festivities listed by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism as part of the “Happy Chinese New Year” celebrations, the Macao International Fireworks Display Contest as well as celebrations of the World Tourism Day, attracting a great number of visitors.
- Tourism + sports: the Macao Grand Prix Museum keeps introducing new exhibitions and interactive experiences, while serving themed food and drinks at the Grandstand Café. The Museum welcomed over 140,000 visitors between January and October 2025.
Ignite vitality in community economy
Through the specialized subsidy programs for community tourism, MGTO encourages community organizations to organize a variety of activities. In 2025, the Office subsidized 54 activities. Up to October, 39 of the subsidized activities were held, engaging over 650,000 participants and 1,500 businesses in total. In addition, the project POP MART MACAO CITYWALK attracted 723,000 spectators and injected an impetus to tourism and spending.
International awards boost reputation and showcase destination appeal
In 2025, Macao and MGTO garnered various international awards and recognition. Among them, Macao was ranked first in the “top 10 China outbound tourist satisfaction index 2024”. At the Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents (MATTA) Fair 2025, Macao was featured as the “International Favorite Destination” while MGTO was awarded the “Best National Tourism Organization Booth”. Furthermore, the world-leading Global Muslim Travel Index 2025 ranked Macao fifth globally in the Muslim women-friendly travel destination category and 16th in the overall ranking as a Muslim-friendly destination.
The Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) awarded MGTO with the PATA Grand Award in Marketing and the PATA Gold Award in the category of Best Sustainable and Inclusive Marketing Campaign. In addition, the film production “Macau Races On” won the Best Event Film at the International Motor Film Awards 2025 and the top prize in the category of “Spot & Adv Project – Fast Sport Stories” at the 43rd Sport Movies & TV – Milano International FICTS Festival. The accolades remarkably raised Macao’s international profile.
Looking into the future, MGTO will strive to deepen integration across “tourism +” and expand the diversity of visitor markets in line with the “1 + 4” development strategies, in turn contributing to adequate diversification and sustainable development of Macao’s economy.
