Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that per-capita spending of visitors increased by 77.3% year-on-year to MOP3,129 in the fourth quarter of 2020; yet, total spending of visitors (excluding gaming expenses) decreased by 63.8% to MOP5.88 billion on account of a 79.6% decline in the number of visitor arrivals (1,877,744). Total spending of overnight visitors (MOP5.24 billion) and same-day visitors (MOP636 million) dropped by 58.3% and 82.7% year-on-year respectively. For the whole year of 2020, total spending of visitors fell by 81.4% year-on-year to MOP11.94 billion as the number of visitor arrivals shrank by 85.0%. Total spending of overnight visitors and same-day visitors amounted to MOP9.79 billion and MOP2.15 billion respectively, representing decline of 80.4% and 84.8% year-on-year.
In the fourth quarter, per-capita spending of visitors from mainland China rose by 61.6% year-on-year to MOP3,255, with spending of those travelling under the Individual Visit Scheme (MOP6,724) surging by 181.6%. Per-capita spending of visitors from Hong Kong (MOP1,599) and Taiwan (MOP1,676) showed respective increases of 59.9% and 16.7% year-on-year. Overnight visitors spent MOP5,125 on average, a growth of 77.8% year-on-year. Meanwhile, per-capita spending of same-day visitors went down by 2.0% year-on-year to MOP744.
Visitors spent primarily on shopping (64.2% of per-capita spending) in the fourth quarter. Per-capita shopping spending of visitors leapt by 158.0% year-on-year to MOP2,008, of which spending on cosmetics & perfume (MOP795), clothing (MOP363) and handbags & shoes (MOP317) jumped by 124.1%, 433.6% and 662.5% respectively. Analysed by main purpose of visit, per-capita spending of visitors coming to Macao for gaming rocketed by 1,433.0% year-on-year to MOP6,835, while spending of those coming for vacation (MOP5,981) and shopping (MOP3,849) grew by 137.6% and 41.1% respectively.
For the whole year of 2020, per-capita spending of visitors increased by 24.5% year-on-year to MOP2,025; spending of visitors from mainland China (MOP2,252), Hong Kong (MOP995) and Taiwan (MOP1,378) rose by 22.8%, 4.3% and 0.1% respectively. Besides, per-capita spending of overnight visitors (MOP3,468) and same-day visitors (MOP700) recorded respective growth of 29.3% and 3.0% year-on-year. Per-capita shopping spending of visitors stood at MOP1,122, an increase of 51.1% year-on-year; spending on cosmetics & perfume (MOP420) and local food products (MOP224) rose by 64.6% and 2.1% respectively. Moreover, per-capita spending on accommodation (MOP432) and food & beverage (MOP367) showed respective growth of 2.4% and 10.6%. Analysed by main purpose of visit, per-capita spending of visitors coming to Macao for vacation (MOP3,376) rose by 48.8% year-on-year, whereas spending of those coming for MICE events (MOP3,117) dropped by 17.6%.
With respect to visitors’ comments, their satisfaction towards various services and facilities in Macao in 2020 registered increases as compared to 2019. The shares of visitors who complimented on environmental hygiene (91.9%) and hotel services (91.4%) rose by 5.9 percentage points and 2.6 percentage points year-on-year respectively, whereas the proportion of those who were satisfied with public transport services (81.6%) soared by 6.1 percentage points.